Potato Patch: no sale

This early painting by Sir Stanley Spencer, Potato Patch, Rostrevor, was bought in 1952 for the princely sum of £170, then vanished into obscurity for 60 years. Today it went for auction at Duke's in Dorchester with an estimate of £200,000 to £400,000, but failed to sell, presumably because it doesn't look like a Spencer. Oh hard cheese! It needs a gang of chunky-footed Hobbits digging up spuds with their hairy toes. Can Duke's do a post-auction deal (CLICK)?