A PAINTING by a York artist has been sold at a London auction house for £36,000.

Sleeping Sailor was painted on board a derelict French barque in 1905 by Henry Scott Tuke, and sold to Arthur Taylor for £15.

The painting, of Harry Cleave reclining on the mizzen boom of the vessel, has remained in the Taylor family for the last 106 years, and was expected to reach £30,000 to £50,000 at auction.

Alistair Laird, maritime picture specialist at Bonhams in London, said the painting was unusual in comparison to much of Tuke’s work, and a lot of interest had been shown in the painting prior to the auction.

He said: “It was painted in 1905, in a very loose impressionistic style, so it’s quite unusual and very, very beautiful.

“It’s also in absolutely perfect condition, in the original frame and under glass, and has been in the same family since it was bought. Tuke is highly collected, but this one is such an exceptional piece in such fantastic condition.

“I have had a huge amount of interest in it because it’s just such a wonderful image.”

Tuke, who was born in York in 1858, and painted a number of ships and maritime images after he moved to Falmouth and Cornwall.

In an excerpt of his diary from May 16, 1905, Tuke wrote: “Another brilliant day. Harry on the mizzen boom.”

In 2003, Tuke’s painting Midsummer Morning, which depicted male nudes on a sunlit beach, sold at Christies for £270,650, despite experts predicting it could have fetched up to £350,000.