A portrait by Venetian painter Rosalba Carriera has sold at Cheffins in Cambridge for £508,000, a price that more than doubled the previous world record for a work by the artist who died in 1757. The painting of Coulson Fellowes, MP for Huntingdonshire from 1741 to 1761, carried a pre-sale estimate of £15,000 to £25,000 and was bought by a UK-based private collector over the telephone. It marked the first time the work had come to market in roughly three centuries.
Painted in 1724, the portrait had not appeared at auction since it was created, according to Cheffins. It shows Fellowes as a young man before his parliamentary career. He was the son of barrister William Fellowes of Eggesford, Devon. The painting came from the Fellowes family collection at Shotesham Park near Norwich until the 1979 sale of the house and estate, after which it remained in the family.
Carriera's status as one of the era's most fashionable portraitists is reflected in the sale context. The artist's portraits include Louis XV of France, English writer Horace Walpole, and French painter Antoine Watteau. Her works are now held by major institutions such as the Louvre in Paris, the National Gallery in London, and the Frick Collection in New York.
The previous auction record for a Carriera painting stood at £421,250, set for a portrait of Gustavus Hamilton sold in New York in 2002, Cheffins said. Cheffins auctioneer Luke Bodalbhai said the Fellowes portrait underscores Carriera's talent as one of the leading lights of 18th-century portraiture.
The sale appears to reflect ongoing interest in 18th-century portraits at regional auction houses, where demand for historically important works continues to support strong results.
