# Edwin Landseer artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/edwin-landseer/
Profile generated: 2026-04-30T04:20:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1802-03-07
- Death date: 1873-10-01
- Nationality: British, English
- Movements: Victorian painting
- Common media: Oil painting, Sculpture, Etching, Drawing

## About Edwin Landseer

Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (1802–1873) was a British painter, sculptor, and etcher whose career defined the Victorian public's image of animal art. Born in Marylebone, London, he was trained by his father, the engraver John Landseer, and developed exceptional skill at depicting animals — especially dogs, horses, and stags — with anthropomorphic sentiment and anatomical precision. Elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1831, Landseer became one of the most celebrated artists of his generation, admired by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who commissioned numerous works from him. Beyond painting, he is remembered for the monumental bronze lions guarding Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square. His images of Scottish Highland life and wildlife became iconic in British visual culture and were widely reproduced as prints throughout the 19th century.

## Common works and media

Landseer is most commonly represented in auction and appraisal contexts by oil paintings of dogs, stags, horses, and Scottish Highland scenes. He also produced portrait commissions, narrative genre paintings, and historical subjects. His sculptural output, led by the Trafalgar Square lions, is limited but significant. Etchings and reproductive engravings after his compositions were produced in large numbers and are widely found today. Original drawings and sketches in graphite, chalk, and watercolour appear on the market with some frequency and range from rapid studies to highly finished preparatory works.

## Market and appraisal context

Appraisily's auction-record index tracks 39 lots for Edwin Landseer spanning June 2007 to February 2026, of which 25 carry a realized price. The market shows pronounced stratification by medium: finished original oils at major houses achieve the strongest results, with the standout being "A spaniel retrieving a woodcock" at Sotheby's (December 2022) realising £81,900 GBP. Mid-range original paintings and attributed oils cluster between roughly £700 and £4,000 across Christie's, Sotheby's, and regional houses. Prints, engravings, and etchings — including period reproductions such as "High Life" and "Jack in the Office" — typically realise between $30 and $150. Drawings and studies occupy a middle tier, exemplified by a Sotheby's study of two stags at £4,064 (April 2024) and a Christie's head study (unsold). Liquidity is thin: only one priced lot appeared in the most recent 12-month window and one in the prior 12-month window, suggesting that significant Landseer oils come to market infrequently. Named houses handling his work include Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, Lyon & Turnbull, Sworders, and Dreweatts in the UK and European market, alongside US houses such as Hill Auction Gallery, Millea Bros, and Great Gatsby's.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Appraisily's auction-record index tracks 39 lots for Edwin Landseer spanning June 2007 to February 2026, of which 25 carry a realized price. The market shows pronounced stratification by medium: finished original oils at major houses achieve the strongest results, with the standout being "A spaniel retrieving a woodcock" at Sotheby's (December 2022) realising £81,900 GBP. Mid-range original paintings and attributed oils cluster between roughly £700 and £4,000 across Christie's, Sotheby's, and regional houses. Prints, engravings, and etchings — including period reproductions such as "High Life" and "Jack in the Office" — typically realise between $30 and $150. Drawings and studies occupy a middle tier, exemplified by a Sotheby's study of two stags at £4,064 (April 2024) and a Christie's head study (unsold). Liquidity is thin: only one priced lot appeared in the most recent 12-month window and one in the prior 12-month window, suggesting that significant Landseer oils come to market infrequently. Named houses handling his work include Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, Lyon & Turnbull, Sworders, and Dreweatts in the UK and European market, alongside US houses such as Hill Auction Gallery, Millea Bros, and Great Gatsby's.

### Appraisal notes

When appraising a work attributed to Edwin Landseer, Appraisily would combine these auction records with the specifics of the item: photographs, dimensions, medium (oil on canvas versus oil on board, etching, engraving, drawing, or sculpture), signature form and placement, condition report (noting any relining, inpainting, or toning), documented provenance, edition details for prints, and any exhibition or literature history. Comparable lots would be selected from the same medium and subject tier — a finished dog or stag oil would be compared against the Sotheby's and Christie's results above, while a print or reproductive engraving would be benchmarked against the $30–$150 print tier. Attribution status (fully attributed, studio, circle of, or after) materially affects value and should be assessed by a specialist, as several lots in the record are explicitly marked "attrib" or "attribuito a" at materially lower prices than firmly attributed originals.

### Valuation factors

- Medium is the strongest price differentiator: finished oil paintings of dogs, stags, or horses can reach five figures at major houses, while prints and reproductive engravings rarely exceed a few hundred dollars.
- Subject matter significantly affects demand: animal subjects — especially dogs and Highland stags — are the most sought-after; portraits and figure studies tend to achieve lower results.
- Attribution certainty matters: lots explicitly listed as "attributed to" Landseer have sold in the $1,000–$3,000 range, well below firmly attributed originals of similar subject and size.
- Provenance and exhibition history, particularly links to Royal Academy exhibitions or royal collections, can materially increase value.
- Condition and conservation history affect oil paintings disproportionately; relined canvases or works with significant inpainting trade below unrestored comparables.
- House tier correlates with result: Christie's and Sotheby's lots tend to achieve higher prices and carry stronger catalogue notes than regional or general-estate auctioneers.

### Collector notes

- Original Landseer oils are uncommon at auction — roughly one to two priced lots per year across all houses — so collectors should expect limited comparable data for any individual painting. The price gap between a firmly attributed finished oil and a period print after the same composition is extreme (potentially two orders of magnitude), making medium confirmation essential before bidding. Works marked as "attributed to" or "after" Landseer trade at a substantial discount and may suit buyers seeking the artist's imagery at lower cost, but they should not be valued as originals. The strong result for "A spaniel retrieving a woodcock" (£81,900 at Sotheby's, December 2022) suggests that high-quality animal subjects with good provenance still command competitive prices when they appear at top-tier houses. Buyers of prints and engravings should note that many popular Landseer compositions were reproduced in large editions throughout the 19th century and are widely available.

### Market caveats

- Price data spans multiple currencies (USD, GBP, EUR, AUD); all figures should be currency-adjusted for comparison. The median price of $700 USD reflects the mix of media and currencies in the dataset and should not be treated as a representative value for any single medium.
- Thin recent liquidity — one priced lot per year in the last two years — means current market direction is difficult to establish from auction records alone.
- Several lots in the dataset are engravings or prints "after" Landseer rather than by him; these are not indicative of values for original works.
- A number of lots show no realized price (unsold or result not reported), which may indicate reserve issues or condition concerns not visible in the record.
- Attribution of Victorian animal paintings can be challenging: Landseer's studio produced work with assistant involvement, and his compositions were widely copied by contemporaries. Professional connoisseurship review is recommended for any oil painting offered as "by" Landseer.

### Market evidence sources

- Appraisily auction record index: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/edwin-landseer/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0

## Appraisily data basis

This Appraisily artist page combines verified identity data from the Library of Congress, VIAF, RKD, and Wikidata with auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. Biographical claims are cross-referenced against multiple authority files and scholarly sources.

## Sources

- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n80056887
- RKD (Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie): https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/47827
- VIAF (Virtual International Authority File): https://viaf.org/viaf/79203218/
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q328369
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Landseer