Painting pulled from plastic shopping bag at Oundle Oxfam sells for £20,000 at Stamford auction

A painting donated to an Oundle charity shop has wowed a Stamford auctioneers – after it went under the hammer for a record breaking £20,000.

The painting, by English impressionist artist Henry Scott Tuke, was given to the Oxfam shop in the town earlier this year.

The 108 year-old nude study of a young man, was taken to Bateman’s Auctioneers in Stamford in a plastic shopping bag with a number of other pictures – but despite having ‘no provenance,’ and the fact the picture was unsigned, art experts at the auctioneers were quickly able to recognise it as a piece by the celebrated British artist.

It went up for sale on December 2, with an opening bid of just £520 – but with eight different bidders, including one phone line, it took 88 bids and about 6 minutes to reach it's incredible total.

The ‘hammer price’ was £20,000 – which means the final cost for the buyer was £24,800 including 24% Buyers Premium.

It has been sold to a British collector, who will now try and pin down a firm attribution for the painting.

Greg Bateman, Managing Director & Senior Valuer at Batemans, said it was the most expensive painting the auction house had ever sold – and the third most expensive lot they had seen.

The previous record for a painting at the auctioneers, which opened in 2001, was £12,000 for a large Trajan Hughes oil, while the 22ct gold Cadbury's Conundrum egg was sold for £37,200 (including buyers premium) and a pair of Cartier Art Deco diamond earclips sold for £32,400 (inc B.P.)

Auctioneer ‘stunned’ by discovery

Mr Bateman said: “I was rather stunned to see such a lovely painting pulled from a shopping bag, without any fanfare whatsoever!

"Immediately I thought it was by Tuke, and one's first instinct is very often right, however when I started on my research over the following weeks there was more than enough doubt to suggest that it might not be by him.

"The painting was unsigned and we had very little provenance to help which naturally makes us cautious, but in the end the bidders decided that it was right, which is the most important thing as they are the ones looking to buy it!”

As the painting broke records at the auction house, Mr Bateman said it was an odd atmosphere – as the bidding was done online, rather than in person.

It was the ‘most watched lot’ in the sale on December 2, with more than 50 people keeping an eye on the lot as it went under the hammer.

Mr Bateman said: “These days we rarely have bidders physically in our Saleroom - our auctions are 'webcast' with bidders watching and bidding from across the country and the world - so it was pretty quiet. We are present of course, which means our auctioneer, two staff members operating the bidding platform computers, and a couple of others for telephone bids.

“For my own part, as I was in the room as it was being auctioned, I was absolutely thrilled to see it do so incredibly well.”

The money raised from the sale will go to Oxfam, and Mr Bateman said it was pleasing to see so much money going to a good cause.

He said: “It is always a pleasure to help any of our clients in turning things into money for them (true recycling!), and especially so when it is larger sums of money that has been raised. It is one of the great joys in what we do as an auction house, we are very lucky to get to do this job!

“For the proceeds to go to charity, after such a wonderful conclusion is a rare treat - I sincerely hope that it will genuinely help a lot of people over the Christmas period.”

What was the painting?

The painting is described by the auctioneers as: nude study of a young man, circa 1915, crouched down looking off to the left, with his arms resting on his thighs, the model is probably Charlie Mitchell, Tuke's boat handler, unsigned, oil on panel, 39.0 by 30.0cm, in a contemporary gilt gesso frame, 53.8 by 45.4cm, with gallery label to the back 'Rowley, 140-2 Kensington W8'.

Who was Henry Tuke?

Henry Tuke was born in York in 1858, but is best known for his work while living in Cornwall. Primarily a painter, but also a photographer, he is best known for his Impressionist paintings of nude boys and young men.

He was also an established maritime artist and produced many portraits of sailing ships. He was highly prolific, with over 1,300 works listed and more being discovered.

He died in Falmouth in 1929 aged 70.

Singer Elton John is known to be a collector of Tuke’s works, and Tuke also has paintings displayed in the Tate.

In 2003, one of his paintings was sold for more than £250,000 at an auction at Christies.

The student halls at Falmouth University have been named in his honour

For more information about the auctioneers, and their upcoming sales, visit https://www.batemans.com/