LONDON.- A first-ever opportunity to acquire pictures from the elegant interiors of a private London club is coming to 25 Blythe Road in April 2017. The Auction of Pictures from a Private London Club will comprise of 100 lots which includes a strong core of good quality Victorian paintings.

A small Russian masterpiece by Pavlovich Pokhitonov (1851 – 1924) with an estimate of £60,000-£80,000 leads this interesting group. ‘Duck Hunters on a Lake’, 1885 is typical of the highly detailed hunting and shooting scene for which the artist is best known. A trained zoologist, Pokhitonov had by 1856 dedicated himself wholly to painting and later moved to France and then Belgium, although he remained a quasi-nomad, travelling with a carriage of his own design that served as a studio.

Among the Victorian pictures, highlights from the collection include ‘Bottom and the Fairies, A Scene from Midsummer’s Night’s Dream’ by Sir Joseph Noel Paton, is estimated at £15,000 - £20,000. ‘The Harbour at St Ives’ by Charles Napier Hemy, is a very good example of his large scale marine scenes, and has an estimate of £20,000-£30,000. ‘A View of Dumfries, 1885’, a wonderful and historically important record of this Scottish town from the later nineteenth century by the talented naïve artist, J. Edgar, is estimated at £6,000 - £8,000.

Among the eighteenth century works, a portrait of ‘Dr Richard Guy’ attributed to Robert Edge Pine in a magnificent frame is a focal point from this period. This carries an estimate of £3,000 - £5,000. Dr. Guy was an authority on the treatment of cancer in the mid eighteenth century. He advocated non-surgical approaches, using a series of medicines to attack tumours especially in breast and maxillofacial cancers. In 1762 he published Practical Observations on Cancers and Disorders of the Breast, the work alluded to on the label, which discussed the use of medications to combat breast cancer, and claimed one hundred successful cures without surgery.

In a pictorial celebration of the age old mutual reverence between man and his dog, a theme that sits comfortably in the gentleman’s club tradition, there are in the region of 25 pictures of dogs, many from the Victorian era, including an oil painting labelled with the history of the life of its sitter ‘Victoria’ by William Osborne (estimate: £5,000 - £7,000), and a large handsome painting of dogs guarding sheep by John Gifford entitled ‘On Guard’ estimated at £6,000 - £8,000. There are over 12 equestrian pictures, as well as a number of 19th century oil paintings of rabbits, foxes and stags that adorned the walls of the grand dining rooms, drawing room and elegant corridors of the club.

A remarkably strong group of illustrations includes an outstanding collection of work by Sir Max Beerbohm and another by Pont (including a number with a Wartime subject) as well as works by William Heath Robinson, Henry Mayo Bateman and George du Maurier.

“From works by Max Beerbohm unseen since the seminal exhibition of the artist forty years ago to first-rate examples of Victorian art by figures such as Joseph Noel Paton, Charles Napier Hemy and William Osborne the sale truly represents a once-in a generation-opportunity to acquire such pictures on the open market. For collectors of animal art, there can be few that match the present collection in its variety and quality and at a range of value that suits all budgets."--Harry Moore-Gwyn.