A capital watercolour by William Henry Millais of a scene on the East Lyn (which is in my neck of the woods) goes under the hammer at Lawrences in Crewkerne in a couple of days with an estimate of £1,500-2,500. Having tried relatively hard to shift historic pictures of my locality I have a feeling that if it sells it will be for the lower end of the estimate. It had a previous outing at Sotheby’s, Billingshurst (which used to be a wonderfully eclectic saleroom and sadly no longer exists) in 1999 where it made a respectable £3,000.

Not strictly speaking a Pre-Raphaelite, William Henry Millais was the lesser known artist brother of John Everett Millais one of the ring leaders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His work is relatively scarce, but a good proportion of it consists of landscapes views on Exmoor. Millais made at least two trips to Exmoor sketching and painting on both occasions. In 1857 he executed a spectacular panorama of the Valley of Rocks near Lynton which was included in Tate Britain’s Pre-Raphaelite vision: truth to nature in 2004.

Interestingly The Valley of Rocks was sold at Sotheby’s, London in 1976 for a mere £900. It went under the hammer again in 2008 at Tennants, Leyburn making a whopping £19,000 – a good example of institutional acknowledgement adding value!

Tying fly, East Lyn which went under the hammer at Christie’s, London in 1998 (regrettably mis-catalogued as Tying fly, East Dyn) was no doubt drawn on the same excursion as the work at Lawrences. Artists would typically stay at one of the hotels or inns in Lynmouth and work their way upstream on foot via watersmeet. At the time of Millais known visits in 1857 and 1868 the area wasn’t easily accessible and only the most dedicated and intrepid artists made the effort, though by 1878 thanks to improved public transport links and an article promoting the picturesque virtues of the area by Sydney Hodges in the inaugural Magazine of Art this corner of Exmoor had become a popular destination for both professionals and amateurs.