Ownership of the 1851 work, The Broom Gatherers, goes back to the prolific watercolour collector Frederick Craven of Manchester, who possessed it from at least 1887.
He is best known for his collection of Pre-Raphaelite work and is listed as a former owner of Edward Burne-Jones’s Love among the Ruins that sold at Christie’s in 2013 for £13.2m.
A century later in 1985 it was with William Hudson of Hulme Hall in Manchester. The painting retains various labels for London dealer Thomas Agnew & Son.
The signed 2ft x 2ft 9in (62 x 84cm) watercolour was also exhibited at the Royal Jubilee Exhibition in Manchester in 1887 and at the Royal Academy in 1892.
A typical depiction by the Birmingham-born landscapist, the signed 2ft x 2ft 9in (62 x 84cm) watercolour shows half-a-dozen figures working in the elements against a vast landscape and brooding sky.
It was knocked down to a local collector for a multi-estimate £8500 at Itchen Stoke auction house Andrew Smith & Son (21% buyer’s premium) on February 5 at its Winchester saleroom.
“Not only was it large and impressive, but it is rare to find a similar picture with such chronological provenance,” said Catherine Hockley, director at Andrew Smith & Son.
