Henry Moore sculpture found on family's mantelpiece sells for £320,000 at auction

Mother and Child, which is made of lead, is thought to have been a preliminary design for one of Moore's famous stringed sculptures. Credit: PA

A previously undiscovered Henry Moore sculpture, which was left on a family's mantelpiece for 40 years, has sold for more than £300,000 at auction.

The work, called Mother And Child, has been traced back to a sketch from 1939 by The Henry Moore Foundation, who authenticated the piece alongside Dreweatts auctioneers.

It was valued at between £30,000 and £50,000 but fetched ten times that when it went under the hammer, with a winning bid of £320,000 on Wednesday.

Drewatts said the piece, which is made of lead, was crafted in 1939-40 and had been a gift to the original owner Cronin Hastings.

Henry Moore sculpture found on family's mantlepiece could fetch £50,000
Hubert de Cronin Hastings

In the 1970s it was handed down to his son, John Hastings, who kept it on his mantelpiece until his death in 2019.

The piece has been described as "unique and rare", partly because Moore only briefly worked with lead in the 1930s.

Henry Moore was from Castleford in West Yorkshire Credit: PA

The artist was born in Castleford and experimented with lead while working with rope and wire to create his famous stringed sculptures.

Mother And Child is believed to have been a preliminary design for a stringed piece.