This newly discovered 2ft 2in x 3ft 7in (65cm x 1.08m) oil on canvas of choir children appeared at North Yorkshire saleroom Tennants (20% buyer’s premium).
Dated 1888 and signed with a monogram (a practice the artist dropped later in her career), it drew multiple bids on November 16 and made £7000, nearly six times its top guide.
Dacre painted both landscapes and portraits, exhibiting in England, Italy and Paris, and travelling widely, including with Lord Leighton. She founded the Manchester Society of Women Artists in 1876 with friend and fellow artist Annie Swynnerton.
Two other Dacre paintings sold at auctions recently: A Young Violinist, 1904, at Gorringe’s of Lewes in October for £1000, and an interior scene of children playing went at the same price at Surrey saleroom John Nicholson’s in May last year.
