FIVE important pieces of work by artist Thomas Gainsborough are expected to fetch up to £805,000 when they go under the hammer at a London auction house.

FIVE important pieces of work by artist Thomas Gainsborough are expected to fetch up to £805,000 when they go under the hammer at a London auction house.

The works will go on sale during two different auctions being held on the same day at Sothebys, and are expected to attract wide interest.

Perhaps the most significant item on sale will be Gainsborough's Portrait of Richard Tickell, which is estimated to fetch up to £600,000.

The painting is part of Sotheby's British Portraits from the Hillingdon Collection, which also includes works from Reynolds, Romney and Hoppner.

The Hillingdon Collection is one of the finest art collections formed in Britain during the 19th Century.

It was amassed by two bankers, Sir Charles Mills and his son Charles Henry Mills.

The collection includes a large number of works by leading 18th and 19th Century artists. One of the best pieces in the collection is Gainsborough's portrait of Richard Tickell.

Tickell and Gainsborough mixed in the same social circles in late 1700s. Tickell married Mary Linley, the daughter of Thomas Linley, one of Gainsborough's closest friends. It is possible the portrait was done to celebrate the marriage.

Four sketches drawn by Gainsborough dating from around 1780 are also up for auction as part of Sotheby's British Masters sale.

Two of the drawings – Wooded Landscape with Riders, Sheep and Pool and the Wooded Mountain Landscape with Herdsman and Cows – are expected to fetch up to £60,000 each.

The other two drawings of this group are entitled Wooded Landscape with Figures and Figures Outside a Cottage with Donkeys. There are expected to fetch up to £50,000 and £35,000.

The drawings were originally owned by surgeon and anatomist John Hunter, who probably brought them directly from Gainsborough.

Both sales take place at Sotheby's on Thursday, November 27.