Antiques Roadshow expert’s eye-watering collection sells for nearly £250k after his death

The late expert Hugo Morley-Fletcher’s collection has sold for more than double its low estimate at auction. The assortment of valuable items included portraits from Yester House, Morley-Fletcher’s former family residence, and European porcelain from his private collection.

Despite a low estimate of £120,638, the collection went under the hammer for a total of £249,201 on March 11 and 12, inclusive of the buyer’s premium. Morley-Fletcher, who passed away in 2022 at the age of 82, was a respected figure on the One teatime show for over 25 years. Away from the cameras, he was also a founding member of the French Porcelain Society, and authored four books on pottery, reports .

The collection was auctioned at Roseberys’ Fine and Decorative and Old Master, British and European Pictures auctions in the heart of London. A 17th-century oil portrait of Lady Margaret Hay, Countess of Roxburghe, by esteemed Scottish portraitist David Scougall, led the sale, fetching a staggering £39,000 against an initial estimate of £6,000.

Other significant sales included two works from Sir Peter Lely’s studio. A portrait of Lady Jane Scott of Buccleuch, 1st Marchioness of Tweeddale, sold for £25,260, surpassing its £7,000 estimate, while a portrait of John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale, realised £24,568 against an £8,000 estimate.

A portrait by Alexander Nasmyth, a pivotal figure in Scottish art, fetched an impressive £31,200 at auction, soaring past its £10,000 estimate. The artwork captures George Hay, 7th Marquess of Tweeddale, and his lineage can be traced back to John Hay, 2nd Marquess of Tweeddale.

Featuring the nobleman with his horse and two dogs amidst a vast landscape, the painting showcases Nasmyth’s mastery in both portraiture and landscape artistry. Lara L’vov-Basirov, who leads the Old Master, British and European Pictures department at Roseberys, expressed her honour at running the sale.

She gushed: “It was a privilege to have a collection of this calibre, with such excellent provenance, at Roseberys.” The auctioneer highlighted the significance of the collection, adding: “It reflects centuries of Scottish art history and the central role that Hugo Morley-Fletcher’s family played as patrons of the arts.”

L’vov-Basirov also shared her delight at the successful auction results, gushing: “Hugo worked tirelessly to trace and re-acquire his family’s collection, and I am thrilled that these works achieved such fantastic prices.”

Adding to the commentary, Anna Evans, associate director and head of Furniture and Works of Art, Fine and Decorative Sculpture and Clocks at Roseberys, remarked on the significance of the porcelain pieces.

She said: “Porcelain was Hugo’s lifelong fascination, and this auction offered buyers a rare opportunity to acquire works from the collection of a true connoisseur. The sale was viewed and admired by a huge number of clients resulting in competitive bidding and only one unsold lot. The new owners have become the next custodians of many beautiful works and furthering their already rich history.”

Antiques Roadshow airs on Sundays from 7pm on One or catch up on iPlayer.