Constable lost for 200 years sells for £375k
A LOST John Constable painting spotted during a house valuation has sold for £375,000.
The never-before-seen oil sketch – titled View Towards the Back of a Terrace of Houses, with Elder Tree – bears the initials JC and has been dated to 1821-22, when Constable rented a house in Hampstead, north London, to benefit his wife’s health during the summer.
The 7in-by-5.5in piece, which once belonged to former US ambassador John Hay Whitney, had been in the sellers’ family since the 1950s. They had no idea it was a Constable until auction house Roseberys, of West Norwood, south London, spotted it and spent four months confirming its authenticity. Bidding started at £20,000 but the piece sold for £375,000 including fees. Roseberys said it offered an ‘intimate view into Constable’s life’.