Collection of mostly Staithes School art goes under hammer for more than £107,000

The TB and R Jordan collection achieved a total hammer price of £107,860, more than doubling the low estimate.

For more than 40 years, Tom and Rosamund Jordan were leading specialists in the Staithes Group of painters, a pioneering group of artists drawn to the fishing village of Staithes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, attracted to the area by the towering cliffs, stormy seas, the clarity of light and eminently paintable cottages and harbours.

The Jordans, who were equally passionate about Staithes, were champions of this pioneering group of artists who, for a short spell, put Staithes at the forefront of the British Impressionist movement.

After strong levels of both local and national interest in the sale, the saleroom on the day was packed helping pictures depicting local North Yorkshire scenes by the likes of Rowland Henry Hill and RL Howey achieve higher than normal prices.

Works by the ever-popular Arthur Friedenson (1872-1955) secured healthy prices across the board, with the top price for a Staithes artist in the sale going

to his jewel-like Loaded Hay Wagon and Haymaking before a Sun-Drenched Coast, which sold for £6,200 (all figures exclude buyer’s premium).

A fine group of works by Ralph Hedley (1848-1913) sold particularly well, too, with his Mending the Nets selling for £2,800, and The Cider Press selling for £2,000.

Works by much-loved Yorkshire artist Owen Bowen performed consistently well, with his Bringing the Cows Home selling for £2,800.

Further highlights included Landscape by Mark Senior (sold for £3,800), and A Picardy Farm by Henry Silkstone Hopwood sold for £3,000.

Other North Yorkshire artists represented in the sale, who achieved notable results included the likes of Len Tabner, whose elemental Barra Seascape II sold for £6,500.

A further group of works from the artist’s estate are to be included in Tennants’ Modern & Contemporary Art Sale in October.

Part II of the TB & R Jordan Collection will be sold in the Country House Sale on September 16.

The sale achieved a total hammer price of £107,860 with a 96% sold rate for 117 lots.