Royal mistress's paintings for sale
Lux
for auction in Adelaide this weekend. The 19th century oil paintings of
two British military heroes - Lord Nelson and the Duke of Wellington
- were originally from the collection of Mrs George (Alice) Keppel
- the mistress of King Edward VII. She is also the great grandmother
of another well-known mistress, Camilla Parker Bowles.
Painted between 1810 and 1830, by Horatio Gibbs, the works will be
auctioned at the Elder Fine Art winter auction tomorrow.
Elder Fine Art's Jim Elder said yesterday the paintings, in their
original gilt frames, were a late addition to the auction and an
unusual offering in Australia.
Bought at the Christie's Keppel auction in London in 1951, they were
resold within the month to a well-known Adelaide art collector for one
hundred pounds, and have been passed down the family.
Mr Elder said the paintings would be auctioned as a pair and should
sell for between $20,000 and $30,000.
In another twist, his research into Horatio Gibbs failed to turn up
anything on the artist.
Gibbs's name was inscribed on the back of the paintings, but it was
"quite on the cards" they were by a more important artist of the time,
he said.
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