Painting of Governor James Stirling and Prinsep Family archive sell at auction for eye-watering sum

Following an intense five-minute bidding war for a painting of WA’s first Governor, gasps and applause broke out when the hammer finally slammed down on an eye-watering sum.

The portrait of Admiral James Stirling, painted in the 1830s, last sold in 2013 for $77,000, but on Sunday that price was blown out of the water.

It was the marquee piece among 236 lots on offer at the auction by Artvisory of David and Marie Louise Wordsworth’s private collection of historical treasures.

Two anonymous bidders - one on the phone and one on the internet - battled it out to be the new owner of the painting which ultimately sold for $110,000.

Mr Wordsworth was a politician in WA’s Court government in the 1970s and 80s. He and, particularly his wife Marie, were keen historians and collected furniture and documents they considered important to the State.

Other pieces in the collection that drew eyewatering bids included an octant and watch owned by explorer Alexander Forrest that sold for $18,000 and $28,000, respectively.

A bidding war also broke out for an auction lot labelled the Prinsep Family Archive, by two in-person collectors for the 3000 documents, paintings, photographs and sketches owned by the family.

Ultimately, this historical collection went for $100,000 to a woman who said she was bidding on behalf of an “institution”.

The Prinseps were an early colonial family with connections to the formidable Dutch East India Company, who owned swathes of land in Bunbury and Dardanup in the 1800s.

Seven ink drawings by Henry Prinsep sold for $44,000 to the same collector.

Other memorable bids include documents belonging to pioneer Captain John Thomas that sold for $18,000, two portraits of an Indigenous man and woman that both sold for $14,000, a collection of watercolour botanical studies by Stan Kelly that sold for $42,000.

Mr Wordsworth died last year and the family sold their Peppermint Grove property which left the collection without a home.

His daughter, Sara, who helped collate the collection for auction, said last week she hoped West Australians who valued the history of the State would purchase the items.