A rare 19th-century print of the thatcher photograph used on Led Zeppelin's fourth album fetched £16,000 at a Sussex auction on February 25, 2026. The item, the largest known original version, exceeded its estimate after a bidding war between UK and US buyers. The discovery highlights ongoing interest in the album's iconic cover art.
The auction took place at Denhams in Sussex, where the print sold for £16,000, far surpassing its pre-sale estimate of £1,500 to £2,000. A telephone bidder from the UK outbid an online participant from the US in a heated contest.
Leo Denham, managing director of Denhams, described the sale as a highlight of music history. "I am delighted to have sold such a significant piece of music history and got such a great result for the seller," Denham told LedZepNews. He noted the buyer's satisfaction and emphasized the enduring appeal of album art. Before the auction, Denham called it "a rare and historically important Victorian photograph" and the source material for Led Zeppelin IV. He added that Robert Plant first encountered a color version near Jimmy Page's house, marking its initial rediscovery.
The print measures 60.8 x 44.4 cm, making it the largest and highest-resolution known example. It was discovered by fine art dealer Tim Williams, who spotted it in a draft auction catalogue. Williams, a Led Zeppelin fan and guitarist, researched the item and informed Denham of its significance. "I said ‘Leo, this is the image from the cover of Led Zeppelin IV, an album I bought when I was 13,’" Williams recounted. The seller, the widow of an antique dealer, was unaware of its value.
This find follows historian Brian Edwards' 2023 discovery of a smaller original print (16.6 x 11.3 cm) in a photo album. Edwards identified the photographer as Ernest Howard Farmer and the thatcher as likely Lot Long. Now, four surviving prints are known, plus the one Plant found. A partial label on the frame reads “thatcher (Devonshire)” and possibly “original photograph,” suggesting the image's past popularity. Williams called the hammer price an “extraordinary result” and pondered why the photo faded from prominence until its use on the 1971 album.
