LONDON.- A charming watercolour of cows grazing before hay wagons by the famous East Anglian artist, Sir Alfred Munnings, features in Bonhams East Anglian Picture Sale in Knightsbridge, London on Tuesday 18th November. It is estimated at £8,000-12,000.

The work was among a car load of prints and paintings brought to a valuation day at Bonhams Reepham office by the owner who had been storing them in his shed. He decided to have a clear out and see what they might be worth. Bonhams picture specialist Daniel Wright said ‘Most of the pictures were prints of little value so I was astonished when the Munnings emerged. It was just about the last picture to be brought out of the car and it came as a great surprise. Fortunately it must have been a dry shed and the picture is in good condition.’

The watercolour is one of four works by Munnings in the sale. A self portrait in pen and ink is estimated at £3,000-5,000 and an oil portrait of a Hackney horse at £20,000-30,000. The horse is believed to have been painted for Munnings’ aunt Polly Hill with whom he often stayed at her Mulbarton farm. It was there that he lost his sight in his right eye after chasing a dog through briars.

Other highlights of the sale include an oil painting by Sir Edward Seago of his home village of Ludham in winter. This oil on board, estimated at £10,000-15,000 is one of two Seago works sourced through Bonhams’ South African office and returning to the East Anglian region for the first time when they are exhibited in the sale previews in November. John Nash’s View from the artist’s window, Bottengoms is a rare depiction of the artist’s isolated farmhouse in North Essex, estimated at £12,000-18,000.

The auction is made up of around 150 paintings by many of East Anglia’s foremost artists. They will be previewed in The Guildhall, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk on Thursday 6th November 9am-7pm and Friday 7th November 9am-4pm. Then at St Michael’s Hall, Reepham, Norfolk on Tuesday 11th November 9am-7pm and Wednesday 12th November 9am-4pm.