The Long Journey by Frederick Cayley Robinson sold at Duke's Auctioneers, Dorchester, for £123.5k

The landscape painting, The Long Journey, by 19th century artist Frederick Cayley Robinson went under the hammer at Duke's Auctioneers.

The painting depicts an elderly man, a young child and young woman all sitting in a carriage travelling through a rural region. The painting is most notable for how the young woman stares directly at the viewer.

The painting was sold as part of Duke's Autumn Fine Art collection for a hammer price of £95,000 - more than doubling its estimated price of £40,000. Inclusive of fees, this makes the total sale price £123,500.

The rear to the Long Journey by Frederick Cayley Robinson. Picture: Duke's Auctioneers

During the early 20th century, the painting was showcased at exhibitions including The Royal Academy in London 1928, the Leicester Galleries, London in 1929, and The Fine Art Society in London from October 18 to November 11, 1977.

A spokeswoman from Duke's, said: "The painting was acquired for £100 from exhibitors Ernest Brown and Phillips, in The Leicester Galleries on January 1, 1930 by Kerrison Preston."

"It was sold with the accompanying receipt of sale at that time along with further correspondence between Preston and Ernest Brown and Phillips as well as a letter to Preston from the artist.

"The letter thanked him for his appreciation of the work and suggested the idea of the painting's analogy was between a railway journey and the journey of life, and that the painting depicts an old sailor dreaming of the past, while the accompanying children remain impatient - and thence by descent."

The painting sold for almost three times more than any of Robinson's previous works, according to Duke's.

The Long Journey original is signed 'Cayley Robinson' on the lower left of the canvas and further signed and inscribed 'The Long Journey F Cayley Robinson' on the reverse, tempera on canvas, which measures 42cm x 61cm.