A Tribute to British Farming: Rare Tunnicliffe Drawings go to Auction

An extensive private collection of works by the celebrated ornithological and rural artist, Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe OBE RA (1901 – 1979) will go under the hammer as part of the Cheffins Fine Sale on 3^rd and 4^th December.

The suite of twenty-two drawings depict farming scenes from the early 20^th century and are being offered for sale by a private London-based collector. Featuring scenes of the harvest, dairy farming and farmworkers, the pencil, ink and chalk drawings are all carefully delineated within distinctive sack-shaped cartouches and are believed to have been created in the 1930s, quite possibly as illustrations for a book. Including images of the early days of the automation of agriculture, these drawings feature vintage tractors, combine harvesters and other machinery as well as milk production and farm hands going about their daily work.

Nicolas Martineau, Director, Cheffins Fine Art Department comments: “These charming and carefully observed works by Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe offer a window into the working life of farmers in the early 20th-century British in both field and dairy.  The artist’s ability to capture the realism and rhythm of agricultural life makes these drawings particularly special, not to mention nostalgic, especially for anyone with a connection to the land. They serve as a celebration of farming heritage and the craftsmanship that shaped rural Britain.”

Charles Tunnicliffe was born in Langley near Macclesfield in Cheshire in 1901. Raised on a small farm with cattle, horses, pigs and poultry, from an early age Tunnicliffe was inspired by his farming surroundings and was said to have drawn farm animals with white chalk on the walls of the farm’s outbuildings. He secured a scholarship at Macclesfield School of Art and Design and had formal training as an artist before heading to the London Royal College of Art. He returned to Macclesfield in 1929 and would go on to produce the wood engravings for the illustrations of Henry Williamson’s Tarka the Otter novel, which would then see him illustrate the author’s next seven books. Tunnicliffe became a well-known artist, particularly for bird studies, and produced work for the RSPB and many other UK wildlife trusts as well as illustrating books for Ladybird and Brooke Bond Tea cards.

The drawings are offered in three lots; the first of eleven scenes depicting arable farming and has an estimate of £1,500 - £2,500; the second includes four pictures depicting British farmworkers with an estimate of £600 - £800 and the third of seven drawings related to British dairy farming and has an estimate of £1,000 - £1,500.

Auction: The Fine Sale – 3^rd and 4^th December 2025 

Location: Cheffins, Clifton House, 1-2 Clifton Road, Cambridge, UK, CB1 7EA

For further information contact the Fine Art Department on 01223 213343, fine.art@cheffins.co.uk