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Anorak News | Half A Million For Oliver Cromwell’s Warts And All

Half A Million For Oliver Cromwell’s Warts And All

by | 7th, June 2007

tony_badger.jpgHE may have unleashed a genocidal nightmare in Ireland, but for one collector, a four-by-three inch portrait of Oliver Cromwell was well worth the £535,200 price tag. (Pic: The Spine)

The oval picture, by Cromwell’s favourite artist, Samuel Cooper, dates from 1657 and is believed to be the image on which all other portrayals of the Lord Protector were based.

The Harcourt Miniature was sold at Sotheby’s in London to the Compton Verney gallery in Warwickshire for five times the guide price and according to the auctioneers, achieved the highest-ever price for a miniature in Europe.

However, the most expensive miniature ever sold remains a picture of former US president George Washington, which fetched $1.2million in 2001.

Cromwell is thought to have coined the phrase “warts and all” when sitting for a portrait”.

I wonder how much a picture of Tony Blair will cost in 350 years?



Posted: 7th, June 2007 | In: Uncategorized Comments (2) | TrackBack | Permalink