A seventeenth-century painting titled The Hares' Revenge was the star of Woolley & Wallis' latest Old Masters, British & European Paintings sale, making £50,000, the Antiques Trade Gazette reported on October 9. The unusual picture outpaced the rest of the sale at the Salisbury saleroom.

The painting's title suggests an allegorical or comic reversal — hares, normally the hunted, turning the tables on their pursuers — a theme with roots in medieval marginalia and popular print. Such pictures appeal to collectors of the strange as much as to conventional Old Master buyers, and the £50,000 result indicates the market rewards eccentricity in the category.

Mediterranean views also drew competition: two small oil-on-canvas views of Greece by the German artist Anton Schranz (1769–1839), alongside works by Lear, attracted bidding. Schranz, active in the early nineteenth century, is best known for topographical views made during travels in the Mediterranean, a genre that continues to find steady buyers at regional auction.

The result continues a solid run for Woolley & Wallis' picture sales, where unusual subjects and strong provenance have outperformed more conventional fare. The Hares' Revenge result may encourage consignors of odd, memorable pictures to test the regional market rather than assuming only the top-tier houses can sell them. With Frieze Week drawing international attention to London, regional results like this one serve as a useful counterpoint: the market's middle tier continues to transact steadily, rewarding pictures that stand out from the wall. The pairing of an allegorical showpiece with sought-after Mediterranean topography made this one of the saleroom's more characterful picture sales of the season.