Tig Bridge by Helen Allingham, £21,000 at Philip Serrell.
While no single lot managed to sell within reach of that price (see ATG No 2604), many of the 24 watercolours offered in the latest fine art and antiques auction at on September 21 out-performed their come-and-buy-me estimates many times over.
This included the top lot of the latest selection available in Worcestershire: a view of children standing on a bridge guided at £1000-1500.
Tig Bridge had appeared in the artist’s 1903 plate book Happy England, something that had also been the case with the best-sellers in July. This example had a label on the back for London dealer Leger Galleries and had previously sold for £13,800 at Christie’s in 1998.
After strong competition, it was knocked down at £21,000 - another one of the highest Allingham prices in the last 20 years.
