Joseph Durham Auction Prices and Value Guide

Joseph Durham auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 350 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

Joseph Durham auction prices: quick answer

Joseph Durham auction prices depend on medium, size, date, condition, provenance, edition details, attribution confidence, and recent comparable auction sales.

Artist
Joseph Durham
Source records
350
Market update
2026-02-06

Artist context

About Joseph Durham

Joseph Durham (1814–1877) was a British sculptor who spent his career in London, producing portrait busts, genre figure sculptures, and commemorative works in marble and bronze. He trained for three years under Edward Hodges Baily, a prominent Royal Academician, and also studied with the sculptor John Francis. Active from roughly 1835 to 1875, Durham worked during the peak decades of Victorian monumental and architectural sculpture in Britain. His output centered on portrait busts and narrative genre groups, reflecting the period's demand for both private commemorative pieces and publicly commissioned statuary. Durham died in London on 27 October 1877. His sculptures appear periodically at auction, where marble busts and small-scale bronze genre figures are the forms collectors are most likely to encounter.

Victorian-era British sculpturemarblebronzeportrait bustsgenre figure groups

Common works and media

Durham's documented output includes marble portrait busts, marble genre figure groups, bronze busts and statuettes, and small-scale commemorative or memorial sculptures. His subjects ranged from individual portraiture to allegorical and narrative genre scenes. Works are typically inscribed or signed, and the majority date from the 1835–1875 period of his London activity.

Market and appraisal context

Joseph Durham's sculptures surface at regional and international auction houses with some regularity, most often as marble portrait busts, bronze statuettes, and marble genre figure groups. Condition is a primary driver of value: marble works with chips, repairs, or surface weathering fetch less, while bronzes with intact patina command a premium. Provenance clarity and the identity of the portrait sitter can also significantly affect results. As a mid-tier Victorian sculptor, Durham's prices remain accessible compared to first-rank contemporaries, but well-documented busts with strong provenance have attracted competitive bidding. Attribution should be confirmed carefully, as Victorian workshop production and stylistically similar contemporaries can complicate identification.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Appraisal caveats

  • Durham is a mid-tier Victorian sculptor; auction results are modest relative to leading names of the period such as Baily or Foley.
  • No catalogue raisonné is referenced in the available sources, making comprehensive attribution verification difficult.

Evidence

Sources for artist context

This source-grounded artist context passed Appraisily's promotion threshold: high confidence, strong sources.

Source-grounded artist Markdown

Data basis

This page is built from Appraisily's public auction market index. Private transactions, incomplete sale feeds, and attribution changes may not be fully represented.

LLM-readable Markdown summary for Joseph Durham

LLM summary index · LLM full index

Artist value FAQ

How much is Joseph Durham worth?

Comparable public auction sales are the best starting point, but final value depends on the specific artwork, condition, size, medium, provenance, and attribution confidence.

Can Appraisily value my Joseph Durham artwork?

Yes. Appraisily can review photos, dimensions, signatures, condition, provenance, and comparable market data to prepare a current valuation.