Three oils by the Lancashire-born landscape painter Herbert Royle (1870-1958) were the main draw here, led by a highly commercial signed canvas of haymaking at Nesfield, near Ilkley, measuring 151/2 by 231/2in (39 x 60cm) which had been discovered in an otherwise unexceptional private consignment from the Bradford area.
Sunny harvesting scenes are among the most popular of all traditional landscape subjects and this, as was a local scene and the canvas was in good condition, coaxed a double-estimate £9400 from a dealer bidding on behalf of a private client.
Two similar sized Herbert Royle canvases of Bolton Abbey and Autumn on the Wharf at Bolton Abbey sold to a ‘noteworthy’ local
collector for £5600 and £4400.
Effectively a pair, these had been entered by a Scottish trade vendor who clearly appreciated how local horses could perform on local courses.
Also worth noting at this West Yorkshire sale was the £8600 (estimate £3000-5000) bid by a Manchester dealer for a 171/2in by 133/4in (45 x 35cm) watercolour of two young children rocking their baby sibling to sleep in a cottage interior.
Interestingly, this was signed Laura Johnson, the maiden name of Dame Laura Knight (1877-1970), thus dating the watercolour to prior to her marriage to fellow artist Harold Knight in 1908.
Local favourites bring in harvest
AS in Edinburgh, strong private bidding for local favourites dominated the picture section of Andrew Hartley’s (10% buyer’s premium) August 15 sale in well-heeled Ilkley, West Yorkshire.
