1: A child prodigy who learned to paint at the same time that she learned to talk, Peggy Somerville (1918-75) continued to paint throughout her life, with her later Impressionistic landscapes of Suffolk collected widely today. This signed 10 x 14in (26 x 35cm) pastel fruit still-life, dated 1969, doubled its top estimate at Cheffins of Cambridge on February 7.
2: Attributed to Richard Cosway (1742-1821) – the flamboyant miniaturist who captured many society figures of the Regency era – this indistinctly inscribed 9 x 5½in (23 x 14cm) pencil and sanguine study of a cherub standing by a lion sold to an online bidder for a multi-estimate sum at John Nicholson’s sale on February 27 in Haslemere.
3: This 16½in (42cm) high oval oil head study by the Victorian painter Joshua Hargrave Sams Mann (1826-88) tipped over top estimate at Shrewsbury saleroom Halls on March 6. Women were a favourite subject for the painter, who is best known for the much-reproduced painting Guardian Angels.
Prices do not include buyer’s premium
