Tirzah Garwood archive sells for £54,000 at Cheffins in Cambridge

A recently rediscovered archive of work by Tirzah Garwood sold for a total of £54,000 at Cheffins Fine Art Auctioneers as part of the Art & Design Sale on 22^nd May. This fresh-to-market collection saw bidders from across the world taking part in the sale both online and in the saleroom and almost doubled its pre-sale estimate for the total.

The highest price achieved for a single lot was £7,500 for The Seasons, against an estimate of £3,000 – £5,000. One of the most iconic of Garwood’s wood engravings is The Crocodile, from 1929, and this was evident today when it realised £6,500. 

The Seasons

The archive had been consigned by the granddaughter of artist Frederick Austin, who lived with his brother, Robert Sargeant Austin (RA), and was a close friend of Tirzah Garwood and her husband, Eric Ravilious. The collection had been held within the family for over 90 years and is thought to have been gifted to Austin by Garwood before the start of the Second World War.

The archive included four wood engravings from The Seasons series and a further 10 signed and numbered wood engravings, there was also six unframed pencil sketches, three workings from the famous work The Grandmother, two further sketches and a sketch book from circa 1927 which includes tile designs, figure studies and dog portraits. The suite of four engravings from The Seasons were the first of Garwood’s engravings to be accepted by the Society of Wood Engravers for its annual exhibition in 1927.

The Crocodile

Brett Tryner, Director at Cheffins Fine Art Auctioneers comments:

“This sale has really ignited the market for Tirzah Garwood. The archive was the largest amount of her work to ever come available and was a serious opportunity for Tirzah fans and collectors of Modern British art to purchase pieces which had never been seen by the public before. The exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery has really propelled Tirzah Garwood’s talent into the public eye, and the timing of this auction was perfect as interest in her history and her work has never been higher. This sale has now set the bar for values of Tirzah Garwood’s work, and the prices achieved are a testament to her gift as an artist creating exceptional work from everyday subjects.”

Cheffins holds the record for the highest price paid for a work by Tirzah Garwood, when an oil on canvas titled Nathaniel and Patsy, two donkeys in a stable with chickens achieved £24,000 when it sold in 2017 and when a wood engraving of Train Journey, numbered 9/30 achieved £11,000 in 2022.

Brett Tryner continues: “There is a steadily growing market for female modern British artists and prices have been rising for some previously unrecognised and rediscovered artists such as Evelyn Dunbar. Tirzah Garwood, while famous as the wife of Eric Ravilious, hadn’t seen the attention of some of her more famous peers from the Great Bardfield Group such as Edward Bawden and John Aldridge, but we forecast that her works will now form a central part of the more serious Modern British collections across the country.”

Auction: The Art & Design Sale – 22^nd May 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