# Copley Fielding artist context and auction value notes Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/copley-fielding/ Profile generated: 2026-05-03T05:46:00.000Z Quality: high confidence, strong sources ## Artist identity - Birth date: 1787-11-22 - Death date: 1855-03-03 - Nationality: English, British - Movements: British Watercolour School - Common media: watercolour, drawing ## About Copley Fielding Copley Fielding (1787–1855), born Anthony Vandyke Copley Fielding in Sowerby, Yorkshire, was a leading English watercolour landscape painter of the early nineteenth century. He trained under John Varley and his own father, Nathan Theodore Fielding, before rising to prominence within the British Watercolour School. Fielding joined the Old Water-colour Society as an associate in 1810, became a full member in 1813, and served as its President from 1831 until his death. In 1824 he shared a gold medal at the Paris Salon with John Constable and Richard Parkes Bonington, a rare international recognition for a British watercolourist. He settled in Worthing, West Sussex, where he ran a busy teaching practice alongside his exhibition career. His work is held by major UK institutions including the Tate. ## Common works and media Fielding is most commonly encountered in appraisal and auction contexts as a watercolourist. Typical works include landscape watercolours depicting the English Lake District, Scottish Highlands, Welsh scenery, and southern English coastal views near his Worthing home. Marine subjects and shipping scenes also appear frequently. Smaller pencil-and-wash drawings, topographical views, and illustrations for published series such as the Waverley novels are also known. Works range from large, finished exhibition watercolours to modest teaching studies and sketches. ## Market and appraisal context Copley Fielding maintains an active and liquid secondary market. Appraisily's auction-record index traces 84 lots with 57 priced results spanning May 2007 through March 2026, indicating sustained and ongoing demand across nearly two decades. The price distribution is wide but characteristic of a prolific nineteenth-century watercolourist: the observed range runs from £30 for small or condition-compromised works to £6,000 for top-tier finished exhibition watercolours, with a median of £300 and a 75th percentile of £660. Recent liquidity is stable, with 6 priced lots in the trailing twelve months and 5 in the prior period. Major houses including Christie's, Bonhams, and Sotheby's have offered Fielding works, while the bulk of turnover passes through specialist UK regional firms such as Sloane Street Auctions, Dominic Winter Auctions, Dreweatts 1759, John Nicholson's, and Hutchinson Scott. Lots also appear in Australian (Moorabool, Leonard Joel), North American (Austin Auction Gallery, Kavanagh), and European (Adam's, Hessink's, Aste Boetto) rooms, reflecting genuinely international collector interest. The market clearly differentiates between finished exhibition watercolours (which command four-figure sums at the upper end) and smaller studies or attribution-questionable pieces (which cluster at the low end). ## Auction-house-backed market evidence Copley Fielding maintains an active and liquid secondary market. Appraisily's auction-record index traces 84 lots with 57 priced results spanning May 2007 through March 2026, indicating sustained and ongoing demand across nearly two decades. The price distribution is wide but characteristic of a prolific nineteenth-century watercolourist: the observed range runs from £30 for small or condition-compromised works to £6,000 for top-tier finished exhibition watercolours, with a median of £300 and a 75th percentile of £660. Recent liquidity is stable, with 6 priced lots in the trailing twelve months and 5 in the prior period. Major houses including Christie's, Bonhams, and Sotheby's have offered Fielding works, while the bulk of turnover passes through specialist UK regional firms such as Sloane Street Auctions, Dominic Winter Auctions, Dreweatts 1759, John Nicholson's, and Hutchinson Scott. Lots also appear in Australian (Moorabool, Leonard Joel), North American (Austin Auction Gallery, Kavanagh), and European (Adam's, Hessink's, Aste Boetto) rooms, reflecting genuinely international collector interest. The market clearly differentiates between finished exhibition watercolours (which command four-figure sums at the upper end) and smaller studies or attribution-questionable pieces (which cluster at the low end). ### Appraisal notes When Appraisily appraises a Copley Fielding work, the auction-record index provides a quantitative anchor: the 57 priced lots establish a price distribution that can be narrowed by matching the subject's medium, dimensions, subject matter, and quality tier to comparable sold lots. Finished landscape watercolours of the Lake District, Scottish Highlands, or Welsh scenery in good condition with strong provenance tend toward the upper half of the distribution, while smaller studies, teaching exercises, or works with attribution qualifiers fall toward the lower end. Appraisily would weigh the auction data alongside high-resolution photographs, measured dimensions, medium confirmation, signature verification, condition report, documented provenance, and any edition or series context. Comparable lots from Christie's, Bonhams, or Sotheby's carry greater weight for establishing insurance or fair-market value, while regional-house results help calibrate the broader market floor. ### Valuation factors - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] ### Collector notes ### Market caveats - The Appraisily price distribution aggregates across multiple currencies (GBP, EUR, USD, AUD, CAD). While GBP dominates, cross-currency lots should be interpreted with current exchange rates in mind. - Fielding was a prolific teacher and produced large quantities of instructional works and studies; not all works bearing his name are of equal quality or by his own hand. - Attribution confusion is possible with works by other members of the Fielding family of artists, including his father Nathan Theodore Fielding and his brothers. The 'ATTRIB' designation on at least one recent lot (Austin Auction Gallery, 2025) illustrates this risk. - The high volume of recorded works (over 850 auction appearances in broader databases) indicates a well-supplied market, which can moderate prices for routine examples. - Some recent lots have null price data (bought-in or unsold), which means the priced-lot distribution may slightly overstate the achievable market by excluding failed sales. - One lot in the recent records is dated 1934 in the title, which is likely a cataloguing error (Fielding died in 1855); buyers should verify catalogue descriptions independently. ### Market evidence sources - undefined: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/copley-fielding/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-copley-fielding-1787-1855-sheep-grazing-in-a-mountain-landscape-watercolour-signed-lower-left-44-x-61cm-2324-c-3b371c9cc0 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-copley-fielding-1787-1855-landscape-with-track-and-figures-on-a-cart-watercolour-signed-and-dated-1934-1-33-c-4e0bdc3e20 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-copley-fielding-british-1787-1855-beached-fishing-vessel-353-c-f097eabc09 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-copley-fielding-british-1781-1655-portsmouth-roads-351-c-a275277b7f - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-copley-fielding-19th-century-watercolour-396-c-9aa4cfb826 - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-copley-fielding-19th-century-watercolour-823-c-c02459ea5d - undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-copley-fielding-watercolour-loch-awe-bearing-the-name-copley-fielding-19cm-2140-c-dd64197a47 ## Appraisily data basis Appraisily artist pages combine verified artist identity research from museum, library authority, and scholarly sources with public auction records, auction-house cataloguing, sale dates, realised prices, and comparable lots where those records are available. For Copley Fielding, identity data is grounded in the Tate collection, RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, Library of Congress Name Authority File, and VIAF. ## Sources - Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q323623 - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copley_Fielding - VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/61485661/ - Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/nr2002045416 - Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/anthony-vandyke-copley-fielding-182 - RKD - Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/27934 - Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500115288