When a lovely painterly artwork comes up for auction I like to look up its sales history to see where it has been and how much someone paid for it before.  This can be a very interesting exercise for items such as the work shown above - a 'historical' [i.e. unfashionable] work that is not part of the contemporary art market 'bubble' we are experiencing at the moment.
This work entitled 'Red Slippers' is by a Dunedin born artist named James Fraser Scott (1877-1932).
It first enters the market in 2014 where it is auctioned in Australia.  It is lot 125 in an art sale at Davidson Auctions in Sydney.  It sells for above the top estimate to realise AUD$1,600 (excl. BP).  The estimate was AUD $800-1500.
This may have been a dealer / punter with access and funds (and an eye) as it turns up at auction at International Art Centre   5 months later.  In New Zealand it is now estimated at $3,000-5,000. It may have had a clean, as the work in the catalogue image is now a lot clearer, less yellow, although this could just be someone lifting the levels in their photograph.
When I see this work it is up at Dunbar's early this month.  This is the kind of work I love - painterly, loose brushstrokes, a not overly well known artist and the subject a woman doing her thing.  The estimate in Dunbar's catalogue is $750-1,500 which is also something that got my attention.  It also seemed affordable - another thing I like.
The work sold for $4,000 + Buyers premium. I am not the buyer.
This is less than its price 8 years ago (which is proof that a work doesn't always go up in value), but still a lot more than what it was estimated at.  I hope it has found a home for a while.

If you are interested in starting to buy art, it is a good idea to subscribe to a secondary database. See how an artist is doing on the market, or what your artwork of interest has sold for before and when.

The Australian Art Sales Digest is a very comprehensive and easily searchable website.  You can subscribe for around $40 a month. Website link here.