A rediscovered painting of London's Covent Garden with its original residential buildings in view, has emerged from a private collection, where it has remained for decades. The painting shows the houses that were demolished in order to create Fowler's new market and the Covent Garden that we know today. It will be offered in a sale of British & European Fine Art at Chiswick Auctions on October 29, 2019.

Reminiscent of a scene from Dickens, the painting titled Covent Garden, 1829, was created by British artist George Sidney Shepherd (1784-1862), one of the foremost chroniclers of London life in the early 19th century. It depicts the market looking west towards the church of St. Paul's, before the rebuilding of the central area of the piazza in 1830.

The main layout of Covent Garden dates from Inigo Jones's designs for the 4th Duke of Bedford, dating from the 1630s, which was the first public square in the country. To the west of the square is the Tuscan portico of St. Paul's Church with raised `portico' houses on the north and east sides and Bedford House on the south side.

The fruit and vegetable market started in the centre of the square in the mid seventeenth century and by the 1760s it had taken over most of the area. By the end of the century it had become the greatest market in England for herbs, fruit and flowers, but complaints about noise and congestion led to an Act of Parliament being passed in 1828, giving the Earl of Bedford the power to demolish the existing buildings and erect a purpose-built market. This was designed by Charles Fowler and was completed in 1830 and is the present building on the site today. It continued as the principal fruit and vegetable market in the country until it moved to Nine Elms in 1973. The painting is estimated to fetch £20,000- £30,000 at auction.

The work was acquired by the family of the present owner circa 1880. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1830, as no.534,`Old Covent Garden Market, as it appeared on the morning previous to Christmas day, 1828'.