RARE WATERLOO PICTURE COLLECTION TO BE AUCTIONED IN NORFOLK EXACTLY 200 YEARS AFTER THE BATTLE

Exactly 200 years after the Battle of Waterloo, an important collection of 19^th century engravings relating to the battle are to go under the hammer at a Norfolk auction this week.

27 pictures of Wellington, Napoleon and the battle itself will be auctioned at Keys Fine Art Auctioneers in Aylsham on Friday 8^th May – with pre-sale estimates valuing the collection at over £1,500.

The collection comes up for sale as interest is peaking in items relating to the battle, which took place on 18^th June 1815.  Several commission bids have already been registered from collectors across Europe.

“This is a fantastic collection of engravings dating from the 19^th century, and some of which were published just a few years after the battle,” said Keys head of fine art Kevin Lines.  “In this bicentenary year, there is sure to be a lot of interest, and we expect brisk bidding from right across the continent.

“This amazing portfolio of pictures comes from a single East Anglian collector, and it represents a rare opportunity for Waterloo enthusiasts to own pictures of the battle and its main protagonists.  Because we are auctioning the collection picture by picture, many of the lots are likely to sell at prices which will be accessible to most people.”

The Battle of Waterloo, which took place around nine miles south of Brussels in present-day Belgium, marked the decisive end of the Napoleonic Wars; following the battle, the coalition forces, led by the Duke of Wellington and the Prussian Gebhard von Blücher, entered France and restored King Louis XVIII to the throne.  Napoleon abdicated six days later, was captured by the British, and spent the rest of his life in exile on St Helena, where he died in 1821.

The Waterloo collection is part of Keys’ Prints and Pictures Sale, which features over 550 English and continental oil paintings, watercolours, prints and engravings.  It takes place on Friday 8^th May at 10am, with viewing on Wednesday 6^th May from 9am – 6pm; Thursday 7^th May from 9am – 7.30pm; and on the morning of the sale from 8.30am.

Further details, and a full illustrated catalogue, are available at www.keysauctions.co.uk.