Kent sell classic painting for £600,000

Excerpt of Kent v Lancashire at Canterbury, 1906 by Albert Chevallier Tayler © Kent CCC Enlarge

One of cricket's most famous paintings - Albert Chevallier Tayler's picture of the Kent v Lancashire match at Canterbury in 1906 - has been sold at auction for £600,000.

I was purchased by Andrew Brownsword, whose Charitable Foundation buys selected works of art in order that they can be retained for public viewing.

The painting, which was commissioned by the county to commemorate their first Championship in 1906, hung in the pavilion at Canterbury until 1999 when it became too expensive to insure. It was then loaned to MCC and displayed at Lord's.

"The decision to sell the painting was a difficult one, but the finances of county cricket clubs are becoming increasingly fragile and, since it was no longer possible to display it at Canterbury, we took the view that the proceeds should be used to help to ensure the longer-term future of the club," Carl Openshaw, Kent's chairman explained. "From Kent's point of view, this is the ideal outcome, since I understand that this unique painting will in the short-term at least continue to hang at Lord's where it can be seen by future generations of cricket lovers."

Click here for the story of the painting's origins.