A PAINTING has sold for a record £290,000 at auction in Bournemouth - shattering the previous house record of £110,000.

The eventual price tag for the classic Pre-Raphaelite painting, Elaine, by Edmund Blair Leighton, stunned House & Son Auctioneers, after biding started at £20,000.

What is more remarkable, is the artwork was sold by a collector who paid £200 for it at Sothebys in London in 1970.

Interest from London and America was intense during Tuesday's (MARCH 21) sale, which attracted several prominent art dealers to the Bournemouth auctioneers. One even flew in from the Unites States to look at the artwork in person.

When the bidding stopped at £240,000 - some £290,000 including all premiums - Ian Brasher's final lowering of the gavel was met by a round of applause.

Ian Brasher said: "This has been a terrific day for House & Son and proves that major works and items can be sold in the provinces for major prices.

"The price for the painting broke the previous house record of £110,000 for a Cartier bracelet.

"Bournemouth has always been a source of great antiques and art works and we are always interested in appraising pieces for sale."

The painting had been put up for sale by the Bournemouth art collector, who had built up a large collection since the 1960s but was moving house.

Steeped in Arthurian legend, it depicts the body of Elaine on a small boat at the steps of Camelot, with King Arthur and Queen Guinevere standing over it.

According to myth, Elaine died from a broken heart after her love for Sir Lancelot went unrequited.

A House & Son Auctioneers spokesman said: "Blair Leighton captured the moment in dramatic tones and the painting has long been considered to be a major Pre-Raphaelite work."

Other works included in the sale were paintings by John Collier and Solomon Alexander Hart.

Elaine was purchased by an unnamed buyer.