William Shayer Auction Prices and Value Guide

William Shayer auction prices are tracked in Appraisily's artist market index, with source-directory coverage of 845 records. Use this page to review sold-lot activity, market context, and valuation factors before requesting a formal appraisal.

William Shayer auction prices: quick answer

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

Artist
William Shayer
Source records
845
Market update
2026-02-16

William Shayer market snapshot

William Shayer shows very deep auction liquidity with 754 tracked lots. Median realized sale is around $600. Category concentration is still broad or sparse. Last 12 months recorded 65 sales. Latest recorded sale: 2025-12-12.

Realized price distribution

  • Under $1,000 (60.8% · 292 sales)
  • $1,000 to $10,000 (35.2% · 169 sales)
  • $10,000+ (4.0% · 19 sales)
Median sale (last 12 months)
$450
Sales recorded (last 12 months)
65
Median shift vs prior year
0.0%
Latest recorded sale
2025-12-12

Artist context

About William Shayer

William Shayer (1787–1879) was an English landscape and figure painter who established a prolific practice during the Victorian era. Based in southern England, he began his career as a coach painter before moving into fine art, producing hundreds of works centered on coastal scenes, rural landscapes, and depictions of rustic life featuring cattle, horses, and figures. His paintings reflect the broader British Romantic landscape tradition of the early-to-mid nineteenth century. Shayer exhibited widely during his lifetime and his works entered public collections including the Tate. His family included several other artists: his sons William Shayer II, Henry Thring Shayer, and Charles Waller Shayer all became painters, while Edward Dashwood Shayer worked as an art dealer. This family of painters has led to occasional attribution questions in auction and appraisal contexts. With over eight hundred documented works and hundreds of auction appearances, Shayer remains one of the more frequently encountered Victorian-era British painters in today's market.

Victorian-era British paintingBritish Romantic landscape traditionoil on canvascoastal and beach scenesrural landscapes with cattle and horsesrustic genre scenes with figuresmaritime and fishing subjects

Common works and media

William Shayer worked primarily in oil on canvas. His most frequently encountered subjects include coastal and beach scenes, views of the English countryside with cattle and horses, rustic genre scenes with figures, and fishing or maritime subjects. Typical compositions feature expansive landscapes with atmospheric skies, populated with animals and rural workers. He also painted woodland interiors, river scenes, and views of the Devon and Hampshire coastline. Works range from small cabinet paintings to larger exhibition-scale canvases.

Market and appraisal context

William Shayer maintains an active and liquid secondary market with 851 catalogued lots and 553 priced results spanning December 2000 through April 2026. Auction activity has increased modestly year over year (75 lots in the most recent 12 months versus 63 in the prior period), indicating sustained collector interest. The price distribution is wide: results range from $10 at the low end to $456,000 at the top, with a median of $575 and a 75th percentile of $1,900. This dispersion reflects the range of work sizes, subjects, and attribution confidence across the Shayer family oeuvre. His paintings appear at both major international houses (Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams) and regional auctioneers (Lawsons, Gibson's, Bargain Hunt Auctions, Waddington's, John Nicholson's), suggesting broad geographic demand across the UK, North America, and Australia. The most sought-after works—coastal scenes, maritime subjects, and large-scale landscapes with cattle and horses—command prices well above the median, while smaller cabinet paintings and works with uncertain attribution trade in the low hundreds.

Auction categories and appraisal factors

Common auction categories

  • Victorian & British Art
  • Old Master & British Paintings
  • Maritime Art

Value drivers

  1. Attribution: works by his sons William Shayer II, Henry Thring Shayer, and Charles Waller Shayer are sometimes confused with their father's output
  2. Subject matter: coastal and maritime scenes tend to attract stronger market interest
  3. Provenance and exhibition history affect value
  4. Over 845 recorded auction results indicate regular market presence
  5. Attribution to William Shayer Senior (1787–1879) versus his sons William Shayer II (1811–1892), Henry Thring Shayer, or Charles Waller Shayer — confirmed attributions to the father command higher prices
  6. Subject matter: coastal and maritime scenes and expansive landscapes with animals attract stronger bids than smaller genre interiors

Appraisal caveats

  • The Shayer family includes multiple painters across two generations; attribution requires careful signature and provenance analysis
  • Minor discrepancy in birth year: most sources give 1787, but VIAF's Library of Congress entry lists 1788
  • The recent-lots feed from the auction-record index includes non-Shayer lots that matched on the first name 'William' (e.g., William Billy Haines furniture, William Bill Ronald Reid sculpture, William Barnard silver). The aggregate statistics (lotCount, price distribution) are derived from the full index and should be understood as Shayer-specific, but the individual recent-lots list requires filtering to identify genuine Shayer lots.
  • Several lots in the recent sample are catalogued as 'WILLIAM SHAYER (1811–1892)' — these dates correspond to William Shayer II, not the senior artist (1787–1879). Attribution confusion between the two generations is a known market issue and is reflected in the price dispersion.

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 William Shayer

LLM summary index · LLM full index

Artist value FAQ

How much is William Shayer 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 William Shayer artwork?

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