Are-they-or-aren’t-they art goes under the hammer

ALMOST a year to the day after Cotswold auctioneers Moore Allen & Innocent sold a suspected self portrait by Rembrandt for £2.2 million, a selection of are-they-or-aren’t-they old masters and other works will be going under the hammer at the autumn Selected Picture Sale.

Following the October 2007 sale, which smashed provincial saleroom records in the UK and made headlines around the world, the auction house was contacted by dozens of art owners from across the globe who suspected they had a valuable painting, or knew they had a good copy for which the auction house could command a good price. Twelve months later, several of these have made it to auction.

Among the best is a copy of The Madonna of Loreto by Raphael. Intriguingly, says auctioneer Philip Allwood, there are 120 known copies of this old master, but the whereabouts of the original is unknown. Could this 117cm by 96cm example be it? The absence of a £3 million upwards price tag suggests not, but £5,000 to £8,000 should be enough to secure a “good and substantial copy” from the 18th Century Italian School.

Likewise an 18th Century Spanish School portrait of an old woman in black is attributed to ‘a follower of Velasquez’. “The subject,” says Philip, “bears a striking resemblance to the Velasquez’ mother-in-law as portrayed in the famous Woman Peeling Onions, only twenty years on.” Did the hand of Diego Rodriguez De Silva Y Valasquez guide the brush across this canvas?

The El Prado Museum of Fine Art in Madrid – the leading authority on his work – doesn’t think so, but then the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam – the leading authority on Rembrandt – wasn’t certain Moore Allen had a real Rembrandt in its possession, so who knows? Elderly Woman in Black Shawl Holding Beads in Her Right Hand carries an estimate of £2,000 to £3,000.

In the manner of Rembrandt is Old Man With Grey Beard, a head and shoulders portrait study on canvas attributed to the 17th Century Dutch School. “It’s a spectacularly painted piece, certainly produced in the same period as Rembrandt,” says Philip. It carries an estimate of £3,000 to £5,000.

If it looks like a Munnings and is signed by Munnings, it must be a Munnings, right? Not when stenciled on the reverse is attribution to Miguel Canals. The Spanish artist, who died in 1995, was a renowned copier of old masters and other fine art, and is collectable in his own right.

His copy of Sir Alfred J Munnings’ Huntsmen and Women with Hounds is so faithful to the original that it includes Munnings’ signature in the lower left corner. “An early 20th century original would set the buyer back over £100,000. The estimate for this copy, which would surely make a fine addition to the wall of any large country house, is £3,000 to £5,000,” says Philip.

Similarly, an unknown artist has produced a “fantastic copy” of the famous Return from Hawking by Sir Edwin Landseer, featuring Queen Victoria and a man supposed by many to be her companion Mr Brown. “It’s a large and impressive piece and the ornate frame, decorated with game birds, is fantastic,” says Philip. Bidding could be expected to start at £300,000 if it was a genuine Landseer. This copy is expected to make £3,000 to £5,000.

The sale has its share of originals, of course. Tableau d'histoire du Basson by the Dutch artist Willem Kalf is dated 1644 and features a woman at a well. The small (25cm by 20cm) study carries an estimate of £3,000 to £5,000. Meanwhile a pen, ink and sepia wash Battle Scene with

Figures in a Mountainous Landscape by the French baroque printmaker Jacques Callot carries an estimate of £1,000 to £1,500.

A couple of white plaster sculptures by Eduardo Paolozzi, Art Deco Cinema and Hexagonal Abstract Relief, come with plenty of provenance, including the menu from the 1985 Clark and Fenn Awards Dinner, for which they were produced. They carry estimates of £800 to £1,200 and £500 to £800 respectively.

Meanwhile, the 17 Lowrys – including the famous Going to the Match – might only be limited edition prints, but each is signed in pencil by L S Lowry himself. Estimates range from £70 to £100 to £3,000 to £5,000 for the aforementioned Match print.

The sale also includes some contemporary works, including Mother and Child, a charcoal and pastel picture of a hare with a human body, typical of the work by renowned Cotswold-based artist and sculptor Sophie Ryder. Signed and dated 2002, the piece carries an estimate of £1,000 to £1,500.

And antique books are, as always, in good supply. Highlights include one volume of Orlando Fvrioso Di M. Lodovico Ariosto Ornato Di Varie Figure Con Alcune Stanze, published in 1550 (£1,500 to £2,000), one volume of Prediche Nuova Mente Venute In Luce..., a velum bound edition published in 1528 (£1,500 to £2,000), The Iliads of Homer, the first edition to include all 24 books in one volume, from 1611 (£2,000 to £3,000) and – the first lot to go under the hammer – a first edition of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, signed by J.K. Rowling and published in 2007 (£100 to £150).

The sale starts at 10am on Friday, October 24 at the Moore Allen & Innocent salerooms in Norcote, Cirencester.

Mother and Child by Sophie Ryder.	A copy of Sir Alfred J Munnings’ Huntsmen and Women with Hounds
A copy of The Madonna of Loreto by Raphael	Going to the Match, one of 17 limited edition L S Lowry prints signed by the artist