An engraving of diarist Samuel Pepys by renowned US artist and sculptor Stephen Hines, is under the hammer online with Ossett-based CW Harrison & Son auctioneers.

Stephen Hines, famous for his murals, sculptures and engravings, including a commission of the Madonna and Child for the Vatican, sadly died in 2017. Although he was a prolific artist who features in the Who’s Who of Art and who was acknowledged by Buckingham Palace and Downing Street for his achievements, there are few public records of his art sales.

Dion Harrison, auctioneer at CW Harrisons & Sons, said. “The piece we are auctioning is a handsome engraving of Samuel Pepys on granite. It is signed by Stephen and is easily identifiable by his distinctive engraving style. Samuel Pepys is a very collectable historical figure and having this work produced by an acclaimed local artist makes this a particularly interesting sale. As Stephen lived in Ossett, the local connection really piqued our interest. Although this is a rare and collectable piece, with little history of recent sales of Stephen’s work, we would expect the piece to reach the low hundreds not thousands of pounds, meaning that someone will be able to own a piece of local art for a modest investment.”

Stephen Hines was loved by all who knew him and was also an inspirational art teacher at Morley High School for a time. The home he shared with his wife and family was a work of art in itself and now bears a blue plaque placed by Ossett Civic Society, which reads: “Stephen Hines, sculptor, painter and poet, lived and worked here”.

The property was full of murals because he hated wallpaper. The dining room had a mural featuring Holy Island and Bamburgh Castle, while the shower room was adorned with San Pietro in Rome and the bathroom featured Charley’s Garden near Whitley Bay.

Outside, his garden studio was one of his most impressive works of art, decorated with a recreation of Michaelangelo’s Creation of Adam and JMW Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire. A tribute to Mondrian ran up the middle of the building. The studio murals also included a painterly tribute to Carrara. He hitchhiked there to learn the “old ways” alongside masons in the marble quarries. Images with the words of Yeats, his favourite poet, and a picture of Keswick Hall College where he met his wife also featured, along with a poignant painting along the garden wall to those who lost their lives in the First World War.

The online sale of his magnificent engraving on granite of Pepys will end on March 1 at 7pm and interested buyers can view and bid on i-bidder. You can find the engraving as CW Harrison & Son Lot 2211 – Stephen Hines.