This very accomplished and lovely watercolor was purchased by Ben Ruhe in the early 1990s from a savvy British dealer who bought up estates of artists in England. The painting measures 10.5" by 16.5" (26 cm by 42 cm). On excellent rag paper. Signed M E Ayrton. The painting is a small town with some sort of light industry seen against the mountains. The reverse side has an unfinished watercolor which is quite inviting. The painting is slightly faded, probably, but maybe not. The artist's palatte was muted. The artist is Millicent E Ayrton, M.B.E., Royal Cambridge Academy, Wales, (b. 1913), a member of a distinguished British family. Paintings by this artist have been sold by leading auction houses, like Christies. It was difficult for me to find prices on other paintings by this artist, but I did find a few similar examples through Google that had sold at prices between £800 and £1500.

I am including another painting, a seascape-cloudscape oil (not shown) at no additional charge. It may or may not have been painted by the same artist. The seascape-cloudscape oil painting is unsigned and slightly smaller, but it was in the same shipping container.