Auction recap / Bonhams
Bonhams Realizes £362,000 at The Marine Sale
Led by Montague Dawson's maritime scenes, the auction achieved a 72.9% sell-through rate with 62 of 85 lots finding buyers.
Auction highlights
Montague Dawson (British, 1890-1973) Fairing Weather - The Clipper Red Jacket
Estimate£70–100KSold—
Montague Dawson (British, 1890-1973) 'Idle Sails - The Loch Etive'
Estimate£50–70KSold£77,300
Montague Dawson (British, 1890-1973) 'A Rift in the Clouds' - The Joshua Bates
Estimate£30–50KSold—
Estimate£20–30KSold£31,200
Estimate£8–12KSold£26,000
Estimate£12–18KSold£20,800
Montague Dawson (British, 1890-1973) The New York Clipper Challenge in full sail
Estimate£15–20KSold—
Robert Dodd (British, 1748-1816) The Foulis homeward bound off Dover, a moderate gale
Estimate£12–18KSold—
Estimate£12–18KSold£15,600
Circle of Nicholas Pocock (British, 1740-1821) A British naval engagement
Estimate£10–15KSold—
Thomas Jacques Somerscales (British, 1842-1927) Valparaiso, Chile
Estimate£10–15KSold—
A finely carved maquette of a male figurehead, probably Danish or German, early 18th century,
Estimate£10–15KSold£13,000
Estimate track marks the pre-sale range; the tick marks the sold price. Lot photography: Courtesy Bonhams.
Contextual data provided by Pricing Culture Analytics; this is not an exhaustive list. Pricing Culture Analytics organizes publicly available auction data to analyze and produce insights.
In a sale that closed on 21 October 2026, Bonhams presented its latest maritime auction, realizing a total of £362,000[1]. The auction house successfully found buyers for 62 of 85 lots, resulting in a 72.9% sell-through[1] rate. The event brought together historical naval scenes and classic clipper ship portraits, drawing on a rich tradition of British maritime painting that spans the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries.
Among the notable offerings was Montague Dawson's oil painting of the clipper ship Red Jacket, a legendary vessel designed by Samuel H. Pook and launched in Maine. The work features a provenance that includes Frost & Reed Ltd. and the Willow Gallery in London before entering a private collection in Ireland. Another significant Dawson canvas depicted the Loch Etive, a celebrated wool clipper built on the Clyde by A. & J. Inglis in Glasgow, which was part of the General Shipping Company's fleet. The sale also highlighted historical naval engagements, such as William Anderson's depiction of the Battle of the Saintes, signed with the artist's initials and dated 1790.
Auction highlights
Sale file- Montague Dawson (British, 1890-1973) Fairing Weather - The Clipper Red Jacket | estimate £70,000 to[2] £100,000[2]
- Montague Dawson (British, 1890-1973) 'Idle Sails - The Loch Etive' | estimate £50,000[4] to[3] £70,000 |[3] sold for £77,300[3]
- Montague Dawson (British, 1890-1973) 'A Rift in the Clouds' - The Joshua Bates | estimate £30,000 to[4] £50,000
- William Anderson (British, 1757-1837) Battle of the Saintes April 1782, Sir George Rodney's flagship Formidable engaging the flagship Ville de Paris | estimate £20,000[8] to[5] £30,000 |[5] sold for £31,200[5]
- Martyn Richardson Mackrill (British, born 1962) 1937 America's Cup - J-Class yachts Endeavour II and Ranger racing off Newport, Rhode Island | estimate £8,000 to[6] £12,000 |[6] sold for £26,000[6]
- Thomas Luny (British, 1759-1837) The Battle of the Nile, 1st August 1798, a pair showing the action at its height and both depicting H.M.S. Zealous engaging the enemy | estimate £12,000 to[9][7] £18,000[9] |[7] sold for £20,800[7]
- Montague Dawson (British, 1890-1973) The New York Clipper Challenge in full sail | estimate £15,000 to[8] £20,000
- Robert Dodd (British, 1748-1816) The Foulis homeward bound off Dover, a moderate gale | estimate £12,000 to £18,000
The auction results demonstrate a steady demand for classic marine art. Works by Montague Dawson continue to serve as a primary anchor for this category, with his depictions of nineteenth-century clipper ships like the Loch Etive and the Joshua Bates attracting attention alongside historical battle scenes by William Anderson and Thomas Luny.
Sources
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Bonhams
The Marine Sale - 02
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