Portrait by king’s painter goes under the hammer

HE WAS the official painter to the royal court and his portrait of the Duke of Argyll graced the face of Royal Bank of Scotland banknotes. Next month a portrait by 18th century artist Allan Ramsay will go under the hammer at Moore Allen & Innocent in Cirencester, with a guide price of between £20,000 and £30,000.

The Edinburgh artist was appointed principal ‘painter in ordinary’ to George III in 1761, and examples of his work can be found at the Scottish National Gallery, the Royal Scottish Academy and in the Royal Collection at Windsor.

The portrait, painted on canvas, signed and dated 1753, features Sir James Suttie of Balgone, Haddington, husband of Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Hew Dalrymple. It features Sir James in a red military jacket, probably of his privately-raised Troop of East Lothian Cavalry.

Moore Allen’s picture sale covers the gamut of work from the 18th century to the present day. Drop Out an acrylic by the sought-after Dublin-based contemporary artist Barry Castle, is being sold by Moore Allen commission free on behalf of Northleach Church and is expected to achieve between £800 and £1,200.

Daughter of the writer Maura Laverty, whose books she illustrated, and wife of English artist Philip Castle, the airbrush artist best known for painting the iconic poster for Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, many examples of Barry Castle’s amusing, colourful and highly stylised work are now housed in the National Library of Ireland.

Renowned equestrian artist Lionel Edwards also makes an appearance at the sale. The Bristol-born painter was one of the most popular illustrators of hunting and sporting subjects from the Edwardian period to the 1950s and is known as the ‘grand old man of sporting art.

Point to Point, a signed water colour featuring four horses and riders tackling a stone wall jump, is expected to achieve between £1,000 and £1,500.

Finally, a curiosity is a book of 30 small water colours of middle eastern scenes. The amateur artist – possibly called A H Berens although the signature is difficult to decipher – seems to have observed and painted everyday scenes in the mid 19th century, from market trading to family gatherings, although whether he actually witnessed the shooting of a man by a mounted assailant as featured in one of the more dramatic paintings, is not known

The leather bound pocket book contains 30 paintings each with an Arabic inscription, and in an up-and-coming market for middle eastern antiques it will be interesting to see if the item exceeds its £300 to £500 estimate.

The Moore Allen & Innocent picture sale will be held at the Norcote salerooms, Cirencester from 10am on Friday, April 11. For a catalogue or further details look on the web site or call 01285 646050.

Sir James Suttie of Balgone, Haddington by Allan Ramsay	Point to Point by Lionel Edwards
Drop Out by Barry Castle	A book of 30 small water colours of middle eastern scenes