High price paid for Stannard painting

Ed FossA painting by one of the female members of the Norwich School of Artists sold for �40,000 at a Norfolk auction house today.The work by Eloise Stannard, which once hung in the Royal Academy, matched its expected price tag when it sold at Keys in Aylsham.Ed Foss

A painting by one of the female members of the Norwich School of Artists sold for �40,000 at a Norfolk auction house yesterday.

The work by Eloise Stannard, which once hung in the Royal Academy, matched its expected price tag when it sold at Keys in Aylsham.

Painted in 1869, the still life of grapes, grapefruit, peach, plum and other fruit was bought by a private buyer.

Fine art auctioneer Roy Murphy said: 'We were obviously pleased to get the figure which we believe may be one of the highest ever achieved for an Eloise Stannard painting.

'The sale went very well with a big crowd of buyers.'

Although the buyer has not been named, Keys staff said they could confirm the painting will be staying in Norfolk.

Mr Murphy had previously described the work as the best Norwich School painting he has handled in more than 40 years.

The presence of important pieces from the Norwich Silver collection added an extra dimension, said Mr Murphy.

The painting was sold by Roy Benton, one of five siblings to inherit it from their late father, also called Roy Benton, an avid art collector throughout the 1950s and 60s who opened the Weston Gallery in Weston Longville in the early 1970s.

Eloise Harriet Stannard lived from 1829 to 1915 and was the daughter of Alfred Stannard, who was also a prominent member of the Norwich School.