McClelland Barclay Auction Prices and Value Guide

McClelland Barclay auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 175 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

McClelland Barclay auction prices: quick answer

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

Artist
McClelland Barclay
Source records
175
Market update
2026-02-06

McClelland Barclay market snapshot

McClelland Barclay shows solid auction liquidity with 119 tracked lots. Median realized sale is around $600. Category concentration is still broad or sparse. Last 12 months recorded 3 sales. Latest recorded sale: 2025-12-09.

Realized price distribution

  • Under $1,000 (58.9% · 53 sales)
  • $1,000 to $10,000 (35.6% · 32 sales)
  • $10,000+ (5.6% · 5 sales)
Median sale (last 12 months)
$1,000
Sales recorded (last 12 months)
3
Median shift vs prior year
+100.0%
Latest recorded sale
2025-12-09

Artist context

About McClelland Barclay

McClelland Barclay portrait
Los Angeles Times · CC BY 4.0 · Source

Born

1891

Died

1943

Nationality

American

McClelland Barclay (1891–1943) was an American illustrator and designer whose career connected commercial art, magazine publishing, and wartime naval service. Authority records consistently identify him as an American artist, illustrator, and designer. A biographical summary reports that his work appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, Ladies' Home Journal, and Cosmopolitan by the time he was 21, placing him within early twentieth-century American mass-market illustration. Barclay entered the U.S. Naval Reserve as a lieutenant in 1938 and went on active duty after the attack on Pearl Harbor; he held the rank of lieutenant commander when he died in 1943. Collectors may therefore encounter his name on illustration-related and design-related material, particularly work connected with publishing or the period's commercial visual culture. The available sources do not establish a formal art movement, catalogue raisonné, or complete career chronology, so such classifications should not be inferred from this evidence alone.

IllustrationDesign workMagazine illustration

Common works and media

The source-supported work types are illustrations and design-related material. The collected biography specifically connects Barclay with magazine publishing, including The Saturday Evening Post, Ladies' Home Journal, and Cosmopolitan. The source pack does not substantiate a broader inventory of paintings, sculpture, jewelry, posters, prints, editions, or recurring subjects. Objects in those categories should be classified as Barclay's work only when stronger museum, catalogue, publication, or auction-house documentation supports the attribution.

Market and appraisal context

Appraisal research should begin by separating illustration work from broader design material and documenting the object's date, intended use, and any connection to a named publication. Those distinctions are relevant because authority records describe Barclay as both an illustrator and a designer, while the biographical source identifies early magazine publication. The present source pack contains no usable major-auction-house record, category breakdown, condition analysis, edition data, or comparable realized-price evidence. It therefore does not support price forecasts or claims that one medium, subject, or period commands a premium. When public auction records are available, comparisons should be limited to genuinely similar work types and considered alongside attribution, sale date, and the quality of the supporting documentation.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Value drivers

  1. Work type, particularly whether an object is an illustration or another form of design work
  2. Documented association with a named magazine or other publication context

Appraisal caveats

  • The collected source pack contains no usable major-auction-house evidence or auction-category breakdown.
  • The supplied Appraisily page could not be evaluated for individual lots because the collected response was rate-limited.
  • No artist-specific conclusions about price trends, condition effects, editions, subject premiums, scarcity, or comparable realized prices are supported by this source pack.

Evidence

Sources for artist context

This source-grounded artist context is based on collected public records: medium confidence, adequate source quality.

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 McClelland Barclay

LLM summary index · LLM full index

Artist value FAQ

How much is McClelland Barclay 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 McClelland Barclay artwork?

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