James Smetham Paintings & Artwork for Sale | James Smetham Art Value Price Guide

Jan. 21, 2025
JAMES SMETHAM (BRITISH, 1821-1889)
Est: £3,000 - £5,000
JAMES SMETHAM (BRITISH, 1821-1889) JAMES SMETHAM (BRITISH, 1821-1889) Travellers in an extensive landscape, waterfall beyond signed and dated 'J. Smethen, 1857' (lower right) oil on canvas 49 x 70 cm. (19 1/4 x 27 1/2 in.) Provenance Private Collection, UK Smethen was born in Yorkshire and began his artistic career as an architect apprentice to Edward James Willson (1787/8-1854). He began studying at the Royal Academy in 1843, and by 1851 he was teaching at the Wesleyan Normal College in Westminster, and was the first Drawing Master for what would later become Westminster College. References Susan P. Casteras, James Smetham: Artist, Author, Pre-Raphaelite Associate, Aldershot, U.K., Scholar Press, 1995.
Chiswick Auctions
Oct. 18, 2023
Smetham (James, 1821-1889). A small archive, mid-late 19th century
Est: £600 - £800
Smetham (James, 1821-1889). A small archive, mid-late 19th century * Smetham (James, 1821-1889). A small archive, mid-late 19th century, watercolour and ink, comprising 56 watercolours on 25 sheets, mainly people including Gods Physicians and Men of Science, studies of anatomy, with a few landscapes, some with captions: Meopham Green, Braemar, Rev Francis A West, Hawthorndon (dated Aug 26), Lake of Geneva from Chillon, etc., all loosely presented, various sizes, largest 17.3 x 12 (6 3/4 x 4 3/4 ins), together with a transcript and photocopy of a letter written in 1878 by the artists daughter to her mother QTY: (1 box) NOTE: Provenance: Aquired from the artists family. The watercolours come from an album (now dismantled) which contained 229 drawings and watercolours, along with one print and one photograph. Inscribed on the frontispiece in pencil 'Scraps from Sketch Books Jas. Smetham'. Smetham was born in Pateley Bridge, Yorkshire on September 8, 1821, the son of a middle-class Methodist preacher. In childhood Smetham said he "formed the desire of becoming a painter" and afterwards "never had a thought of being anything else". Originally apprenticed to an architect he entered the Royal Academy Schools as a probationer in 1843 but lasted only a few months, partly due to health reasons. Smetham returned to London in 1851 when he began exhibiting at the Royal Academy, the British Institution, and elsewhere. In the same year he was hired as a drawing teacher for students training to be teachers at the Wesleyan Normal College at Westminster. In 1854 he married Sarah Goble, a fellow teacher at the school and went on to have six children including a girl called Edie. He received praise from some eminent contemporaries like John Ruskin, George Frederick Watts and Dante Gabriel Rossetti who hailed his friends' paintings as "the flower of modern art". Throughout his life Smetham had suffered from bouts of mental illness but it was in the Autumn of 1877 that he succumbed to a debilitating attack. After this he withdrew from the world. Almost a year later he received the album compiled by his daughter Edie and her siblings.
Dominic Winter Auctions
Oct. 18, 2023
Smetham (James, 1821-1889). An archive of watercolours
Est: £600 - £800
Smetham (James, 1821-1889). An archive of watercolours * Smetham (James, 1821-1889). An archive of watercolours, 60 watercolours on 25 sheets of paper, mainly studies of people, a few landscapes, some with captions including: Mr Wilson as the Gorilla (dated 'Aug 14 62'), Friar Claus, The woman whose husband little thought she was in London, sharpening stone saw, Hawthornden (date Aug 26), etc., all loose, some laid onto card, various sizes, largest 17.6 x 12.5 (6 7/8 x 5 ins), together with a transcript and photocopy of a letter written in 1878 by the artists daughter to her mother QTY: (1 small box) NOTE: Provenance: Acquired from the artists family. The watercolours come from an album (now dismantled) which contained 229 drawings and watercolours, along with one print and one photograph. Inscribed on the frontispiece in pencil 'Scraps from Sketch Books Jas. Smetham'. Smetham was born in Pateley Bridge, Yorkshire on September 8, 1821, the son of a middle-class Methodist preacher. In childhood Smetham said he "formed the desire of becoming a painter" and afterwards "never had a thought of being anything else". Originally apprenticed to an architect he entered the Royal Academy Schools as a probationer in 1843 but lasted only a few months, partly due to health reasons. Smetham returned to London in 1851 when he began exhibiting at the Royal Academy, the British Institution, and elsewhere. In the same year he was hired as a drawing teacher for students training to be teachers at the Wesleyan Normal College at Westminster. In 1854 he married Sarah Goble, a fellow teacher at the school and went on to have six children including a girl called Edie. He received praise from some eminent contemporaries like John Ruskin, George Frederick Watts and Dante Gabriel Rossetti who hailed his friends' paintings as "the flower of modern art". Throughout his life Smetham had suffered from bouts of mental illness but it was in the Autumn of 1877 that he succumbed to a debilitating attack. After this he withdrew from the world. Almost a year later he received the album compiled by his daughter Edie and her siblings.
Dominic Winter Auctions
Oct. 18, 2023
Smetham (James, 1821-1889). A small archive, mid-late 19th century
Est: £600 - £800
Smetham (James, 1821-1889). A small archive, mid-late 19th century * Smetham (James, 1821-1889). A small archive, mid-late 19th century, watercolour and ink, comprising 52 watercolours and 1 etching on 25 sheets, mainly studies of people, a few landscapes and animals, some with captions including: Anna Kuhl, Winnowing, Thorne, Hillside Cottage (dated May 24 72), etc., plus a photograph of a portrait painted by Frederick James Shields, inscribed in ink to lower margin 'To J. Smetham from his friend F.J.S', all loosely presented, some laid onto thick card, various sizes, largest 17.3 x 12 (6 3/4 x 4 3/4 ins), together with a transcript and photocopy of a letter written in 1878 by the artists daughter to her mother QTY: (1 box) NOTE: Provenance: Acquired from the artists family. The watercolours come from an album (now dismantled) which contained 229 drawings and watercolours, along with one print and one photograph. Inscribed on the frontispiece in pencil 'Scraps from Sketch Books Jas. Smetham'. Smetham was born in Pateley Bridge, Yorkshire on September 8, 1821, the son of a middle-class Methodist preacher. In childhood Smetham said he "formed the desire of becoming a painter" and afterwards "never had a thought of being anything else". Originally apprenticed to an architect he entered the Royal Academy Schools as a probationer in 1843 but lasted only a few months, partly due to health reasons. Smetham returned to London in 1851 when he began exhibiting at the Royal Academy, the British Institution, and elsewhere. In the same year he was hired as a drawing teacher for students training to be teachers at the Wesleyan Normal College at Westminster. He received praise from some eminent contemporaries including John Ruskin, George Frederick Watts and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who hailed his friend's paintings as "the flower of modern art".
Dominic Winter Auctions
Feb. 17, 2023
James Smetham (British, 1821-1889) Oil On Panel, Rustic Courtship, H 11'' W 9.5''
Est: $200 - $400
Signed in the lower center. Depicting the courtship of a rustic couple. Having a giltwood and gesso frame, H 16", W 14". Provenance: From a Lathrop Village, Michigan collector.
DuMouchelles
Dec. 15, 2022
James Smetham (British, 1821-1889) Oil On Panel, Rustic Courtship, H 11'' W 9.5''
Est: $200 - $400
Signed in the lower center. Depicting the courtship of a rustic couple. Having a giltwood and gesso frame, H 16", W 14". Provenance: From a Lathrop Village, Michigan collector.
DuMouchelles
Mar. 23, 2021
James Smetham, British 1821-1886- The Saving of the Soul; oil on board, signed and dated indist
Est: £500 - £700
James Smetham, British 1821-1886- The Saving of the Soul; oil on board, signed and dated indistinctly, 9.5x15cm Provenance: with The Maas Gallery, London, according to the label attached to the reverse of the frame Please refer to department for condition report
Roseberys
Jul. 11, 2019
James Smetham (1821-1889) Flora oil on canvas 15 ½ x 9 7/8 in. (39.5 x 24.5 cm.)
Est: £10,000 - £15,000
James Smetham (1821-1889) Flora signed 'J. Smetham' (lower right) oil on canvas 15 ½ x 9 7/8 in. (39.5 x 24.5 cm.)
Christie's
Nov. 28, 2018
James Smetham (British, 1821–1889) Geese in a landscape signed lower left "J Smetham"
Est: £400 - £600
James Smetham (British, 1821–1889) Geese in a landscape signed lower left "J Smetham" oil on canvas h:30 w:47 cm Provenance: Presumably Christie's, 25th July 1975, lot 10 Other Notes: James Smetham was an English Pre-Raphaelite painter and engraver, close to Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Smetham was born in Pateley Bridge, Yorkshire, and attended school in Leeds. He studied at the Royal Academy in 1843 and painted romantic visionary works, generally on a small scale. His work is in the Tate, the National Portrait Gallery, the Ashmolean and the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
Cheffins
Sep. 12, 2018
James Smetham (British, 1821–1889) Geese in a landscape signed lower left "J Smetham"
Est: £600 - £800
James Smetham (British, 1821–1889) Geese in a landscape signed lower left "J Smetham" oil on canvas h:30 w:47 cm Provenance: Presumably Christie's, 25th July 1975, lot 10 Other Notes: James Smetham was an English Pre-Raphaelite painter and engraver, close to Dante Gabriel Rossetti. He was born in Pateley Bridge, Yorkshire, and attended school in Leeds. He studied at the Royal Academy, beginning in 1843, and painted romantic visionary works, generally on a small scale. His work is in the Tate, the National Portrait Gallery, the Ashmolean and the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
Cheffins
Jul. 12, 2018
JAMES SMETHAM | Piping Down the Valleys
Est: £4,000 - £6,000
oil on board
Sotheby's
Dec. 15, 2016
JAMES SMETHAM | The Chase
Est: £1,000 - £1,500
oil on panel
Sotheby's
Sep. 21, 2016
James Smetham (1821-1889) Young men and women outside a cottage 3 x 4in.
Est: £400 - £600
James Smetham (1821-1889) watercolour Young men and women outside a cottage monogrammed and dated 1846 3 x 4in.
Gorringes
Dec. 17, 2015
JAMES SMETHAM | Pandora
Est: £10,000 - £15,000
oil on canvas
Sotheby's
Jul. 15, 2015
JAMES SMETHAM | Scraps from Sketchbooks
Est: £6,000 - £8,000
some pencil, others pen and ink, chalk, watercolour and bodycolour
Sotheby's
Jun. 17, 2014
James Smetham (1821-1889) "PAGAN RITES" signed and dated 1867; with gallery label verso oil on panel 29 x 39.5cms; 11 1/2 x 15 1/2in.
Est: £400 - £600
James Smetham (1821-1889) "PAGAN RITES" signed and dated 1867; with gallery label verso oil on panel 29 x 39.5cms; 11 1/2 x 15 1/2in.
Anderson-Garland
Jun. 19, 2013
James Smetham (1821 - 1889), fascinating
Est: £500 - £700
James Smetham (1821 - 1889), fascinating collection of items relating to the artist, including an oil on board in gilt frame - portrait of his two daughters Nellie and Edie, shelling peas in a garden, 20.5cm x 16.5cm, an oval portrait miniature watercolour of his wife Sarah, in ebonised frame, 9cm x 7.5cm, another miniature portrait believed to be his wife, an oval watercolour miniature portrait of a gentleman wearing grey coat, in ebonised frame, 10.5cm x 8.5cm, a pencil and wash sketch of a gentleman and one other of a country house. Also included is Smetham's tin cased finger paint box (which he used for illustrations in the margins of books), contained in an oval box with remnants of shagreen, a sepia photograph of Smetham's birth place at Pateley Bridge, Yorkshire, is also included along with two other photographs and a copy of 'Letters of James Smetham', 1891, a letter from the Tate Gallery and other related ephemera makes up the group. An interesting lot. Provenance: From the estate of the late Prynne Hutton - wife of Wilfred Smetham Hutton, Grandson to James Smetham
Reeman Dansie
Nov. 01, 2011
JAMES SMETHAM (BRITISH 1821-1889) CHRIST AT EMMAUS 50cm x 39cm (19.7in x 15.4in)
Est: £4,000 - £6,000
JAMES SMETHAM (BRITISH 1821-1889) CHRIST AT EMMAUS Oil on panel, arched top 50cm x 39cm (19.7in x 15.4in)
Lyon & Turnbull
Nov. 01, 2011
JAMES SMETHAM (BRITISH 1821-1889) THE ROSE OF DAWN 61cm x 35cm (24in x 13.8in)
Est: £4,000 - £6,000
JAMES SMETHAM (BRITISH 1821-1889) THE ROSE OF DAWN Signed, oil on canvas 61cm x 35cm (24in x 13.8in)
Lyon & Turnbull
Sep. 08, 2011
James Smetham (1821-1889) Tales from the sea, 9.5 x 15.5in.
Est: £400 - £600
James Smetham (1821-1889) oil on wooden panel, Tales from the sea, signed and dated 1868, 9.5 x 15.5in.
Gorringes
Nov. 17, 2010
James Smetham (1821-1889)
Est: £1,500 - £2,500
James Smetham (1821-1889) Saul "hiding among the stuff" signed and dated '1866/J.Smetham' (lower right) and with inscription 'Saul "hiding among the stuff."' (on an old label attached to the reverse) pen and brown ink, watercolour and bodycolour with gum arabic 5¼ x 4 7/8 in. (13.3 x 12.4 cm.)
Christie's
Jun. 16, 2010
James Smetham (1821-1889)
Est: £4,000 - £6,000
James Smetham (1821-1889) A wayfarer resting by a lake signed and dated 'J. Smetham. 1865' (lower left) pencil, pen and brown ink and watercolour heightened with white, and with scratching out on paper 4 7/8 x 6¾ in. (12.3 x 17.2 cm.)
Christie's
Jul. 16, 2008
Attributed to James Smetham (1821-1889) Eve and
Est: £500 - £700
Attributed to James Smetham (1821-1889) Eve and the serpent Oil on canvas 92 x 61cm; 36 x 24in Lined, restored
Woolley & Wallis
Oct. 30, 2007
James Smetham (British, 1821-1889) Tales from the sea
Est: £600 - £800
Tales from the sea signed and dated 'J.Smetham. 1868' (lower right) oil on panel 24 x 40 1/2cm (9 7/16 x 15 3/4in).
Bonhams
Oct. 30, 2007
James Smetham (British, 1821-1889) A figure in distress by the shore
Est: £400 - £600
A figure in distress by the shore signed and indistinctly dated 'J Smetham/June 18**' (lower right), oil on board 10 x 15.2cm (4 x 6in).
Bonhams
Oct. 01, 2007
A young woman seated
Est: $500 - $700
James Smetham (Yorkshire 1821-1889 Stoke Newington) A young woman seated black chalk, watercolor on paper 9 1/8 x 7 1/8 in. (230 x 180 mm.)
Christie's
Jun. 12, 2007
James Smetham (British, 1821-1889)
Est: £1,000 - £1,500
Tales from the sea signed and dated 'J.Smetham. 1868' (lower right) oil on panel 24 x 40 1/2cm (9 7/16 x 15 3/4in).
Bonhams
Nov. 30, 2006
James Smetham (English, 1821-1899) Prospero and Miranda oil on board24 x 35cm Provenance: Christie's, Sale 24 October 1977, lot 58, from the collection of Dennis Smetham, the artist's grandson From the collection of Matthew Pryor
Est: £300 - £400
James Smetham (English, 1821-1899) Prospero and Miranda oil on board24 x 35cm Provenance: Christie's, Sale 24 October 1977, lot 58, from the collection of Dennis Smetham, the artist's grandson From the collection of Matthew Pryor
Cheffins
Jun. 16, 2005
James Smetham (1821 - 1889)
Est: £15,000 - £20,000
The Knight's Bridal signed and dated 'J. Smetham 1864' (lower right) and further signed, inscribed and dated 'The Knights Bridal. J. Smetham 1864.' (on the reverse) oil on board 13 1/2 x 9 in. (34.3 x 22.8 cm.)
Christie's
Mar. 09, 2005
James Smetham (1821-1889)
Est: £1,000 - £1,500
A classical figure study signed 'J. Smetham' (lower right) oil on canvas 5 1/4 x 9 in. (13.3 x 23.8 cm.)
Christie's
Feb. 19, 2003
James Smetham (1821-1889)
Est: $12,720 - $19,080
Christ at Emmaus oil on panel 193/4 x 153/4 in. (50.2 x 40 cm.) PROVENANCE Mr Winders in 1856. Anon. sale, Christie's, London, 10 December 1963, lot 196. Charles and Lavinia Handley-Read, London. with The Fine Art Society, London, from whom acquired by the present owner. LITERATURE Sarah Smetham and William Davies (eds), The Letters of James Smetham, London, 1891, p. 16. Morchard Bishop and Edward Malins, James Smetham and Francis Danby: Two 19th Century Romantic Painters, London, 1974, p. 40. Susan P. Casteras, James Smetham: Artist, Author, Pre-Raphaelite Associate, Aldershot, 1995, pp. 103-5, 156(?), 164(?), illus. pl. 25 and in colour following p. 116. EXHIBITION London, Royal Academy, 1852, no. 23. Victorian and Edwardian Decorative Art: The Handley-Read Collection, 1972, no. A47. Paintings, Water-Colours and Drawings from the Handley-Read Collection, 1974, no. 74. The Royal Academy (1837-1901) Revisited, 1975-6, no. 62. The Pre-Raphaelite Era, 1976, no. 3-15. The Art of Seeing: John Ruskin and the Victorian Eye, 1993, cat. pl. 11. New Haven, Yale Center for British Art, James Smetham, 1994. London, Christie's, James Smetham, 1995, no. 14. A Brush with the Millenium, 2000, no. 5. NOTES The picture is one of Smetham's most important early works, and certainly the most important to have survived. Painted in 1849, when he was twenty eight, it was exhibited at the Royal Academy three years later, the second time that he had been represented on its walls. The subject is Christ's miraculous appearance to two of his disciples following the Resurrection (St Luke, ch. 24, v. 13-35). Sitting at supper with them at Emmaus, He remains unrecognised until He blesses the bread in emulation of the Last Supper and suddenly 'their eyes were opened'. In Smetham's picture one disciple is already experiencing the revelation while the other looks on with a degree of scepticism, still awaiting englightenment. The picture cannot be understood fully without an appreciation of Smetham's deep religious faith. Born and brought up a Methodist, he remained intensely alive to the spiritual dimension throughout his life. Yet while religion was a driving force and a constant source of inspiration to him as an artist, it also contributed to the morbid sensitivity and chronic sense of inadequacy that dogged his career and eventually led to his mental and physical breakdown. The picture was painted before Smetham moved to London in 1851, taking up a post at the Weslyan Normal College, a Methodist teacher training institution in Westminster, that he was to hold for twenty-six years. As a youth, he had been articled to the Lincoln architect E.J. Willson, who had encouraged him to make a detailed study of the Cathedral. There is perhaps a reflection of these experiences in the picture, with its strong architectural forms and a hint of a Gothic arch in the background. While living in Lincoln, Smetham had met the painter Peter De Wint. This had fired his ambition to be an artist, but the real sense of direction had come through reading Ruskin, who had published two volumes of Modern Painters by 1849. The picture probably betrays Ruskin's influence in its careful attention to naturalistic detail and the total sincerity with which the scene is envisaged. The impact of Pre-Raphaelitism, however, is hardly yet apparent, even though the picture was shown at the RA the same year as such masterpieces as Holman Hunt's Hireling Shepherd (Manchester) and Millais' Ophelia (Tate Gallery). Smetham in his persona as one of the most interesting associates of the Pre-Raphaelites did not emerge until he had met Ruskin and Rossetti in 1854. The picture was the most important of several Smethams that belonged to Charles and Lavinia Handley-Read, who between them did so much to pioneer the Victorian revival in the 1960s. Their self-inflicted deaths late in 1971 was an ever-to-be-lamented tragedy, depriving the movement of two much-loved and respected gurus and themselves of the opportunity to see the fruits of their labours. For other pictures from their collection see lots 34 and 156.
Christie's
Sep. 06, 2001
James Smetham (1821-1889)
Est: $5,800 - $8,700
The Call of the Prophet Amos signed 'J. Smetham' (lower left) and further signed, dated and inscribed 'Call of the Prophet Amos/by James Smetham./1875.' (on an old label on the reverse) oil on canvas 10 x 24 in. (25.5 x 62.3 cm.) PROVENANCE Dennis J. Smetham; Christie's, London, 25 July 1975, lot 71 (440 gns. to Coulter). NOTES Smetham's work was characterised by his friend Rossetti as partaking 'greatly of Blake's immediate spirit, being also often allied by landscape intensity to Samuel Palmer'. In the artist's own words he explained how he sought in his imagination to combine 'art, literature and the religious life'. Amos, a shepherd who tended mulberries, lived near Jerusalem on the edge of the desert of Judah. He was one of the first great Hebrew prophets and foretold the doom which would fall on Israel unless its people mended their ways. In the midst of the social and industrial upheaval of the mid-nineteenth century such subjects held great appeal for Smetham, who felt they had contemporary significance.
Christie's