Handsome study of Peregrine Falcon sells for above estimate at weekend auction in Yorkshire

                                                                

On patrol - the magnificent raptor

BRUCE Henry (1918-2011) is not the best known of bird artists but his fine study of a Peregrine Falcon on a rocky outcrop definitely caught the eye at a sale yesterday in North Yorkshire.

The pre-sale estimate of Leyburn-based auction house Tennants was that the watercolour-and-gouache would fetch between £300 and £500, but bidding had reached £750 before the hammer fell.

Interestingly, the painting was formerly in the picture collection of  the pioneering bird photographer Eric Hosking. 

At the same sale, a sketch by Archibald Thorburn (1860-1935) of a  Woodpigeon and a Turtle Dove sold for £350 against a pre-sale estimate of £200-£300.

                                   

Thorburn sketch