Painting: The picture shows Queen Victoria with John Brown. Pic: © Deadline
A painting of Queen Victoria with her servant is expected to make £30,000 when it goes under the hammer next month.
Painted by Charles Burton Barber, the picture shows the Queen with John Brown on his 50th birthday and was a present from the monarch to her most faithful servant.
It is part of the Forbes Collection which will be sold at auction at Edinburgh’s Lyon & Turnbull on November 1.
It is among 500 royal paintings, letters and furniture from the London home of the Forbes family at Old Battersea House. The American publishing family collected £2m worth of treasures which are all going under the hammer.
Nick Curnow from the auction house said: "The twenty inches by twenty four inches painting by Charles Burton Barber is particularly valuable because it was a personal gift from the Queen to Brown and shows the pair on August 26, 1876, the year Brown celebrated his fiftieth birthday."
The artist was also a favourite of Queen Victoria’s and he was commissioned by her a number of times. When he died in 1894, the Queen sent an aide with a wreath to his funeral.
The Forbes family bought Old Battersea House in 1970 and spent years restoring it to its former glory. They have collected many items that belonged to the Queen, all of which are up for sale.
Their art adviser explained the items were expected to fetch a large amount at auction.
Simon Edsor said: "The Royal Collection is a real snap shot of Queen Victoria's life with personal letters, family paintings, along with items of a more personal nature.
"Examples of the Queen's belongings have long been considered the crowning glory for Victoriana collectors. In the past few years several items have come up for auction and made excellent prices with interest from around the world."
