The old-fashioned country house sale hardly ever fails to cause excitement. The on-the-premises sale of contents from Athelhampton House, a Tudor manor house in Puddletown, Dorset, was no exception.
Among the paintings attracting interest in the October 9 sale conducted by Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium) of Dorchesterwas a portrait ascribed to Henry Stone (1616- 53), an artist usually associated with the copies he made of van Dyck’s works.
It depicted a cleric with a black patch on his left cheek traditionally identified as Bishop Mews, who wore a patch to cover a scar he received while fighting for King Charles I in the English Civil War. The 3ft 11in x 3ft 3in (1.19m x 99cm) oil on canvas doubled the top estimate to make £8000.