Hemingford artist's painting due to go under the hammer

A NINETEENTH century painting of two men sitting at a desk piled high with papers at a St Ives solicitors' office is going under the hammer on Thursday.

The painting has no title but is listed as Business at Day and Sons, Solicitors Office, St Ives and is being sold by the firm now known as Leeds Day (the solicitors was founded by George Day in 1830 and merged with Leeds Smith in 1989).

The artist, Walter Dendy Sadler, lived in Hemingford Grey and there are two streets, Dendy's Road and Sadler's Way, named after him.

The oil painting is due to be auctioned by Cheffins of Cambridge and is expected to sell for between �1,500 and �2,500.

It is a small picture, just nine inches by 12 inches, and is thought to be a sketch for a larger and more elaborate painting.

Richard Hayward, auctioneer at Cheffins, told The Hunts Post: "We think the artist lived in Hemingford Grey towards the end of his late in the 1890s.

"He usually painted in great detail. We sold a picture of two gentlemen raising a glass outside a cottage door in Hemingford Grey for �15,000.

"Dendy Sadler was an intuitive artist. His studies are very lifelike and full of movement and action. He liked to include local people in his pictures even though he set his work 100 years before they lived"

Andrew Roberts, a partner in Leeds Day, added: "We have several Dendy Sadler prints on our walls but we have moved to new offices and some of our old furniture and paintings will not fit in with the ambience. We think it is better that someone buys the painting who will enjoy it and display it rather than we keep it just to put it in a cupboard."

INFORMATION: Business at Day and Sons can be viewed on line at www.cheffins.co.uk/fineart. The auction is at Cheffins in Clifton Road, Cambridge starting at 11am, contact 01223 213343.