A drawing by Canaletto that has never appeared on the market is headed to auction in Oxford on October 21, carrying an estimate of £40,000 to £60,000 ($53,000 to $79,000). Mallams will offer the pen-and-brown-ink capriccio, a fantasy of a crumbling arcade overrun by greenery above a rickety bridge, with a boatman emerging from a dilapidated archway. Dated to 1746-1755, the sheet belongs to the latter part of the Venetian artist's years in England. An inscription on the back indicates he gave it as a gift, and it was most likely acquired by the Georgian composer and music historian Charles Burney in the late 18th century, staying in his family until now. The work has been authenticated by Canaletto specialist Charles Beddington and probably served as a preparatory drawing shown to a patron ahead of a related painting, which last appeared at Christie's in London in 1995, making £380,000. The capriccio genre was a small but distinctive part of Canaletto's output, and surviving examples are closely watched. The auction record for one stands at £2.2 million, set at Christie's in London in 1994, while the artist's overall market has surged recently: two of his three highest auction prices came in the past two years, including a £32 million record set at Christie's London in July 2025. The discovery lands during Frieze Week, when London's market attention is at its annual peak. Over the past three years Canaletto works have averaged about $64,500 at auction, with roughly 40 percent selling above their high estimates, a steadiness the Mallams sheet will now be measured against.