Grand Duke’s descendants united with painting

A determined buyer travelled from North West Germany to Honiton to secure his bid on the 19th century portrait of a Prussian Grand Duke.

Dr Johann van Lengerich learned of the sale of the portrait at Chilcotts Auctioneers from the internet and was so keen to purchase it that he made the journey on the day of the auction together with his young son.

It transpired that his wife and son are direct descendants of the Grand Duke. The family had previously tried to buy the painting when it was auctioned at Christies but on that occasion, they were unsuccessful. Instead, the Grand Duke’s portrait went on display at Millers at the Anchor, Porlock Weir. However, when Millers was sold, the contents - including the portrait - were taken to Chilcotts to be auctioned. 

Dr van Lengerich decided that he didn’t want to lose the portrait again so he made the trip to the sale room rather than take a chance on internet or telephone bidding. Anticipating that he would be successful in his bid, he rang Chilcotts prior to the sale to confirm the dimensions of the picture and its frame. He arrived at the auction with a strong wooden crate ready to package it up.

“I am delighted to report that Dr van Lengerich was the successful buyer of the portrait,” says auctioneer, Duncan Chilcott.

“The Chilcotts team helped him to wrap the picture securely for its journey to Germany to be united with the descendants of the Duke. We were tickled to find out that the whole affair had been kept a secret from Dr van Lengerich’s wife, who believed that her husband and son were on a trip to Belgium for the day!”

The hammer price was £1,815 including Buyer’s Premium, an impressive price particularly as there was damage to the canvas.