# John Cyril Harrison artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/john-cyril-harrison/
Profile generated: 2026-05-06T19:51:27.850Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1898-03-11
- Death date: 1985
- Nationality: British
- Movements: British wildlife art tradition
- Common media: watercolour, oil painting, drawing

## About John Cyril Harrison

John Cyril Harrison (1898–1985) was an English watercolourist, painter, and draftsman best known for his depictions of birds of prey and British wildlife. Active throughout the mid-twentieth century, Harrison produced a substantial body of work in watercolour and on paper that established him as a recognised figure in the British wildlife art tradition. His illustrated publication The Birds of Prey of the British Islands (1980) cemented his reputation as an authority on raptor subjects. His work is documented in the RKD image archive with over two hundred recorded images, and a dedicated named collection — the Andrewartha Collection — has been catalogued around his output. Harrison’s watercolours and drawings continue to appear regularly at auction, reflecting sustained collector interest in British sporting and wildlife painting.

## Common works and media

Harrison commonly worked in watercolour on paper, producing detailed studies of birds of prey, game birds, and other British avian subjects. He also created oil paintings and pen-and-ink drawings of similar wildlife themes. Illustrations and plate reproductions from his published book on British raptors are also encountered. Original watercolours of single bird subjects against plain or landscape backgrounds are the most frequently listed format at auction.

## Market and appraisal context

John Cyril Harrison's auction market is well-established and liquid. Appraisily's auction-record index traces 440 lots spanning from February 2001 through April 2026, with 338 carrying realised prices. The market is anchored by appearances at major houses — Bonhams, Christie's, and Sotheby's — alongside strong regional coverage through Tennants, Keys Fine Art, Sloane Street Auctions, Dreweatts 1759, and others. This breadth of institutional turnover signals sustained collector demand. Pricing is widely dispersed: the recorded range runs from £5 (minor pencil sketches) to £33,650 (top-end works), with a median of £1,260, a 25th percentile at £550, and a 75th percentile at £3,250. Watercolours of bird-of-prey and game-bird subjects sold at Bonhams account for the upper tier (lots achieving £1,000–£1,200 GBP), while pencil sketches at regional houses like Claydon Auctioneers trade in the £28–£60 range. Liquidity is steady: 9 priced lots in the most recent 12-month window and 8 in the prior 12 months, indicating consistent — not surging — supply and demand.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

John Cyril Harrison's auction market is well-established and liquid. Appraisily's auction-record index traces 440 lots spanning from February 2001 through April 2026, with 338 carrying realised prices. The market is anchored by appearances at major houses — Bonhams, Christie's, and Sotheby's — alongside strong regional coverage through Tennants, Keys Fine Art, Sloane Street Auctions, Dreweatts 1759, and others. This breadth of institutional turnover signals sustained collector demand. Pricing is widely dispersed: the recorded range runs from £5 (minor pencil sketches) to £33,650 (top-end works), with a median of £1,260, a 25th percentile at £550, and a 75th percentile at £3,250. Watercolours of bird-of-prey and game-bird subjects sold at Bonhams account for the upper tier (lots achieving £1,000–£1,200 GBP), while pencil sketches at regional houses like Claydon Auctioneers trade in the £28–£60 range. Liquidity is steady: 9 priced lots in the most recent 12-month window and 8 in the prior 12 months, indicating consistent — not surging — supply and demand.

### Appraisal notes

An Appraisily appraisal for a Harrison work would use these 440 auction records as a comparable-lot foundation. The appraiser would narrow the comparable set by matching the submitted work's medium (watercolour, oil, gouache, or pencil), subject (bird of prey, game bird, waterfowl), dimensions, and signature status against the priced lot history. The £550–£3,250 interquartile range provides a practical valuation band for typical signed watercolours; works falling outside that band — very large oils, exceptional provenance such as Andrewartha Collection provenance, or unusually small sketches — would be adjusted accordingly. Provenance documentation, condition reports (especially foxing or toning on works on paper), and signature verification are critical inputs that could shift value meaningfully within or beyond the observed range. The appraiser would also note that some lots in the record are sold without price data, which may indicate bought-in or post-sale private negotiation outcomes.

### Valuation factors

- Medium: watercolours and gouaches achieve the strongest and most consistent prices; pencil sketches trade at a significant discount (observed £28–£60 vs median £1,260)
- Subject: birds of prey and game birds (grouse, snipe, pheasant) attract higher bidding than generic waterfowl or small bird studies
- Size and format: lots described as pairs or groups can exceed single-work prices, though per-work value depends on dimensions
- Auction house tier: Bonhams and Christie's lots consistently realise £600–£1,200 for mid-range watercolours; regional houses tend to achieve lower results for comparable material
- Provenance: documented provenance and named-collection association (e.g., Andrewartha Collection) can support premium pricing
- Condition: as works on paper dominate Harrison's output, foxing, fading, mounting damage, or later overpaint materially affect value
- Signature: signed works are the norm in the record; indistinctly signed or unsigned lots trade at substantial discounts
- Currency: the majority of the market transacts in GBP; occasional EUR-denominated Bonhams lots (Paris) require currency-normalised comparison

### Collector notes

- Harrison's market is accessible and well-documented, making it relatively straightforward to benchmark a fair acquisition or reserve price. Signed watercolours of raptors or game birds in good condition typically fall in the £550–£3,250 range at auction. Buyers should expect pencil sketches and minor studies to trade well below that band. Sellers of higher-quality watercolours should consider consignment to a major London house (Bonhams, Christie's) where comparable material has performed strongest. The steady annual turnover of 8–9 lots suggests neither scarcity nor oversupply, so well-priced works generally find buyers. Buyers acquiring through regional auctioneers may find value, but should verify attribution carefully — the wide price dispersion and volume of minor sketches mean loosely attributed or unsigned works do appear regularly.

### Market caveats

- Of 440 recorded lots, 102 lack realised-price data; these may represent bought-in lots, post-sale negotiations, or pending results, so the true sell-through rate is not fully observable.
- Price data is drawn from Appraisily's auction-record index and Invaluable listing feeds; hammer prices may differ from published estimates, and buyer's premiums are not included.
- One lot realised €1,000 at Bonhams (Paris) and another €500; these EUR results are not directly comparable to GBP-denominated lots without currency adjustment.
- The source pack does not include museum collection holdings, exhibition history, or catalogue raisonné data, which could affect provenance-based valuations.
- Harrison's prolific output of small sketches and studies means the market includes a long tail of low-value material; median and quartile figures may overstate the typical value of minor works.
- The top recorded price (£33,650) is an outlier well above the P75 (£3,250); this likely represents an exceptional work or collection lot and should not be used as a benchmark for typical Harrison watercolours.

### Market evidence sources

- undefined: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/john-cyril-harrison/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-john-cyril-harrison-british-1898-1985-ducks-coming-in-467-c-43a56d3f73
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-john-cyril-harrison-british-1898-1985-snipe-feeding-462-c-ff4e5e34f2
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-john-cyril-harrison-british-1898-1985-335-c-5844e69aeb
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-john-cyril-harrison-british-1898-1985-snipe-diving-672-c-7d7990429e
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-john-cyril-harrison-british-1898-1985-geese-669-c-0107620707
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-john-cyril-harrison-british-1898-1985-467-c-a4772eafcc
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-john-cyril-harrison-1898-1985-mallard-above-the-marshes-watercolour-heightened-with-white-signed-lower-right-47-x-32-5cm-1328-c-a5d4dda9a8

## Appraisily data basis

This Appraisily artist page combines identity research from authority files including Getty ULAN, VIAF, Library of Congress, and the RKD with auction-house context, sale records, and comparable lot data when those records are available. Artist biographical facts are drawn from institution-grade library-authority sources; market context is based on observable auction categories and published references.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q37766910
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500054229
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/72902755/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n87129559
- RKD: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/36161