'Emily Bronte portrait' goes for £4,600 at auction

The painting was expected to fetch up to £8,000

A portrait believed to be of the author Emily Bronte was sold for £4,600 at a Northamptonshire auctioneers.

The 33cm by 24cm (13in x 9.5in) oil painting went under the hammer in Towcester on Thursday.

Auctioneer JP Humbert said it had attracted a moderate amount of interest after a previous sale of another painting.

The auction house sold that portrait of the reclusive writer for £23,836 in December.

This latest painting, which is annotated 'Emily Jane Bronte', was estimated to fetch between £5,000 and £8,000.

Auctioneer Jonathan Humbert said: "We have another Bronte painting which we will put up for auction in April and we are hoping to make it three out of three."

The Bronte family moved to Haworth, West Yorkshire, in 1820 where the Reverend Patrick Bronte was appointed Curate of Haworth.

They lived at the Haworth Parsonage from 1820 to 1861, which is now the Bronte Parsonage Museum.