Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge believes the oil on canvas of a Royal Naval two-decker hove is a “significant painting” and thought to date to the 1840’s after Stanfield’s election to the ARA and RA.
The auction house said the picture has provenance to the families of Lord Hood and Horatio Nelson through the vendor's great grandmother Gertrude Trelawny. Trelawny’s maternal grandmother was Fanny Charlotte Hood. Fanny's mother Charlotte Mary Hood was the only surviving heir of William 1st Earl Nelson, brother to Admiral Horatio Nelson.
It is thought that the picture hung in Gertrude Trelawny's father's town house (J Herbert Benyon) in Port Street, London. The painting came through the family line of Samuel Hood 2nd Baron Bridgeport to Charlotte Mary only surviving daughter and heir of William 1st Earl Nelson.
The picture was cleaned by dealership Frost and Reed in Bristol in 1966 and a director at the gallery stated the painting was by Clarkson Stanfield.
It is being offered in what is believed to be its original frame and carries an estimate of £10,000-15,000 at Henry Aldridge & Son antiques and collectable sale on September 19.
