A NUMBER of iconic paintings and sketches by John Constable are set to fetch more than £300,0000 when they go under the hammer during a sale at a prestigious auction house.

Leading the New Bond Street sale of the renowned artist’s work is an oil sketch of East Bergholt Common, which has an estimate of between £200,000 and £300,000.

The piece was a sentimental painting for Constable as it depicts the view looking from his home towards where his future wife Maria Bicknell lived.

Several other iconic pieces capturing the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty are also set be sold during the auction.

Constable’s 1827 picture Flatford Old Bridge and Bridge Cottage is expected to sell for between £20,000 and £30,000.

The painting was created when the artist took two of his children on holiday to Flatford, where he completed 27 drawings of the River Stour and the surrounding scenery.

The piece is similar to one which his daughter Isabel gifted to the Victoria and Albert museum in 1888 where it still remains today.

An early sketch done by Constable in 1805 called The Vale of Dedham is expected to make between £15,000 and £20,000 in the sale.

The image is the earliest dated study for his prestigious 1815 Royal Academy exhibit, The Stour Valley and Dedham Village.

A pen and ink wash depicting East Bergholt House which was chosen as the frontispiece for a series of 22 landscape prints engraved by David Lucas is expected to make between £8,000 and £12,000.

A pocked-sized figure study taken from one of the artist’s sketchbooks, titled a countryman resting on a bank seen from behind, is expected to sell for more than £8,000.

Several other original Constables including scenes of Fittleworth Mill in Sussex and Brighton Beach will also go under the hammer during the sale, which is being run by art experts Bonhams.

Andrew McKenzie, head of old master paintings with Bonhams, said, “Constable is one of Britain’s best loved artists, and these sketches provide a fascinating insight into his personal and family life.

“These studies of his travels around the country are wonderfully executed, and we expect them to achieve strong prices.”

Constable is one of Britain’s most beloved landscape painters best known for his paintings of the area now known as Constable Country.

Although his paintings are now among the most popular and valuable in British art he was not financially successful at the time of his death in 1837.

The auction takes place on Wednesday, July 3.

To find out more about the auction, visit bonhams.com.