Sold for £361,250

Mystery buyer snaps up Oldham painting
AN oil painting once owned by Oldham’s first female mayor fetched £361,250 at auction yesterday.

Before the auction, at Sotheby’s in London, experts accurately predicted that the picture, titled Andromeda, would fetch between £300,000 and £500,000. It was bought by a mystery bidder.

The canvas was painted in 1869 by Sir Edward Poynter and was originally owned by wealthy Oldham cotton merchant, Charles Lees, of Werneth Hall. When he died,the picture was inherited by his widow, Dame Sarah Lees — Oldham’s first female mayor.

It passed to her daughter, Marjory, and after her death in 1970 Andromeda was sold at Sotheby’s for £750.

Following yesterday’s sale, the Oldham painting is now the third most valuable work by Sir Edward Poynter sold at auction.