1. Ray Howard-Jones watercolour – sold for £1000
Selling for a multi-estimate-sum at Dominic Winter in Cirencester on November 8, this 14 x 21in (36 x 53cm) watercolour gouache from the 1950s achieved a new auction record for Rosemary ‘Ray’ Howard-Jones (1903-96). The prolific painter’s impressionistic seascapes and paintings of the coastline of Wales have steadily risen in value since her death.
2. Sketch of New York skyline – sold for £420
Buckinghamshire saleroom Bourne End Auction Rooms offered more than 50 lots by Adriaan Lubbers (1892-1954), the Dutch artist who painted New York’s burgeoning skyline during the inter-war period. Results were mixed in the November 7 sale, but this 12¼ x 13½in (32 x 34cm) work on paper tipped over top estimate.
3. Colourful garden scene – sold for £580
Ernest Arthur Rowe (1860-1922), a painter of Victorian gardens who chronicled the great estates of Britain, was a particular favourite of Queen Mary, wife of George V. With some staining and dirt to the sky, this 12 x 18in (30 x 46cm) watercolour sold for over five times its guide at Philip Serrell in Malvern on November 8.
4. Winter landscape – estimated at £200-300
Henry Stannard (1844-1920) was a Bedford-born painter of birds and sporting subjects, and was the father of the better-known painter of English pastoral scenes Henry John Sylvester Stannard (1870-1951). This depiction of pheasants in a winter landscape is fairly typical of Stannard senior’s work and the 13.75in x 2ft 2in (35 x 65cm) signed watercolour is estimated at £200-300 at Tring Market Auctions in Hertfordshire on November 23.
5. View of Manchester Park – estimated at £200-400
Oldham-born Robert Littleford (b.1945) is a self-taught artist whose works tend to focus on pictures of everyday life, beach scenes and views of the north of England. This painting of the old boathouse in Manchester’s Alexandra Park will be offered at Peter Wilson’s fine art sale in Nantwich, Cheshire, on November 21-22. The 13.25 x 11.25in (34 x 29cm) watercolour is signed and dated '81.
6. Scottish harbour – estimated at £250-450
Scottish painter Alexander Ballingall (1850-1910) specialised in watercolours of coastal scenes. He was based in Edinburgh for the bulk of his career, although he also spent a period in Venice. An example of his strong and precisely conceived harbour scenes is appearing at McTear’s of Glasgow on November 21. The signed 13.75 x 20in (35 x 51cm) watercolour is estimated at £250-450.
