LONDON -  An important painting that was reputedly attacked by suffragettes when it was on display at the Royal Academy in 1894 fetched an impressive £132,000 at Bonhams in London (20 March 2007). ‘The Quarry Team,’ painted in Cornwall by Stanhope Alexander Forbes (1857 – 1947), had been expected to fetch between £50,000 - £70,000 at Bonhams’ sale of Victorian Paintings, Watercolours and Drawings at 101 New Bond Street, London, but competitive bidding pushed the price well beyond the estimate. It was bought by an anonymous bidder.

The sale held further success for British artists of the 19th century, with ‘A Village Idyll,’ a large and important watercolour by Walter Langley - one of Cornwall’s most distinguished artists – fetching £84,000 on its first outing on the main auction market.  An incredible £94,800 was fetched being fetched for a John William Godward painting of a Persian Princess against the £25,000 – 35,000 estimate; an equestrian painting of ‘Pipylina and Foal’ made £62,400 against £8,000 – 12,000.
 
It is said that The Quarry Team, a charming scene of horses pulling a cart of stone from a quarry which measures 60 x 96 inches, was attacked by a militant suffragette with an umbrella whilst on view at the RA exhibition in 1894. The canvas has since been repaired, but the mark of the slash is still faintly visible. The Quarry Team is one of many artworks that were vandalised by such women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in order to raise the profile of their cause.
 
Suffragettes targeted artworks that seemed to suit their purpose, which meant going for either the most valuable pictures, or else those whose content seemed to comment on the current struggle for suffrage. Whilst The Quarry Team  is inoffensive in terms of subject matter, its large scale and importance – for Forbes was one of the foremost painters of his day and the painting has since been hailed as “one of his greatest and most renowned works” – singled it out for women wanting to make a point.
 
In 1914 another ‘slasher’ suffragette, Mary Wood, wrote to the Women’s Social and Political Union of her reasoning behind this art vandalism: “I have tried to destroy a valuable picture because I wish to show the public that they have no security for their property nor for their art treasures until women are given the political freedom.”
 
The painting has further fascinating history. It was purchased directly from the artist in the 1940s for £175 by the Polglase family, who lived in Treneere Manor, one of Cornwall’s most important estates. The house was completed in 1748, incorporating part of a former Tudor Manor. Together with its grounds and farm it formed one of the principal estates in West Cornwall. After several owners (including William Oliver of Bath Oliver biscuit fame), the estate was bought in 1876 by the seafarer Joseph Polglase. On the death of Joseph Polglase the estate was left to his four daughters and on the death of the last surviving daughter in 1956, the house, contents and gardens were left to estate gardener Reginald Symons who devoted the rest of his life to their care.
 
Mr Symons, who was born in Penzance in 1910 and had worked at Treneere since his early teens, died in 2006 at the age of 95. He left the Manor and its contents to St. Dunstan’s, a charity providing crucial assistance to ex-Service men and women with significant loss of sight whether through war, age, accident or illness. The charity’s specialist training and support help regain independence and optimism and makes the most of the opportunities available to them, teaching new skills, dealing with housing issues, assisting with benefit claims and providing a thriving sporting and social network. It is on St. Dunstan’s behalf that Bonhams sold this painting and other contents from the manor.
 
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is the world's oldest and largest auctioneer of fine art and antiques remaining with British ownership. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America and in August 2003, Goodmans, a leading Australian fine art and antiques auctioneer with salerooms in Sydney, joined the Bonhams Group of Companies. Today, Bonhams is the fastest growing auction house in the world, offering more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further 8 throughout the UK. Sales are also held in Switzerland, Monaco, Germany, Australia and the USA (New York) and with the acquisition of Butterfields in California, has salerooms in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Bonhams also has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives offering sales advice and valuation services in 25 countries. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of more than 50 Bonhams specialist departments, go to www.bonhams.com .