SOTHEBY'S TO OFFER LOST PAINTING BY WILLIAM DYCE

A STUNNING PAINTING BY WILLIAM DYCE THAT HAS BEEN LOST FOR OVER A CENTURY IS BEING OFFERED FOR SALE AT SOTHEBY'S 15.JULY VICTORIAN & EDWARDIAN ART SALE. LOT #5, THE MEETING OF JACOB AND RACHEL IS EXPECTED TO FETCH BETWEEN £100,000 – 150,000 WHEN IT COMES UP FOR BID. THE PAINTING ILLUSTRATES THE BIBLICAL TEXT 'JACOB KISSED RAHEL AND LIFTED UP HIS VOICE, AND WEPT' -- RACHEL'S FATHER HAD TRICKED JACOB INTO WORKING FOR HIM WITHOUT PAYMENT ON THE UNDERSTANDING THAT HE COULD MARRY RACHEL. THE AMAZING WORK HAD GONE UNTRACED SINCE IT WAS EXHIBITED IN THE 1850s, FIRST AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY IN 1850 AND LATER AT THE MANCHESTER ART TREASURES EXHIBITION IN 1857. THE DISCOVERY WAS MADE WHEN AN IMAGE OF THE WORK WAS SENT TO SOTHEBY'S SPECIALISTS WHO WERE ABLE TO IDENTIFY IT AS THE ORIGINAL BY A SMALL PART OF A TORN LABEL ON THE REVERSE THAT IDENTIFIED IT AS HAVING BEEN IN THE MANCHESTER EXHIBITION.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS OF THE VICTORIAN & EDWARDIAN ART SALE INCLUDE LIVERPOOL DOCKS, BY JOHN ATKINSON GRIMSHAW, AN ATMOSPHERIC NIGHT-TIME DEPICTION OF THE 19th CENTURY LIVERPOOL ESTIMATED AT £250,000-350,000, AND WIND AND SUN BY DAME LAURA KNIGHT, WHICH SHOWS A LIGHT FILLED COASTAL SCENE PAINTED IN CORNWALL ESTIMATED AT £200,000-300,000.