This sentimental print of a little girl crying and her collie dog adorned sitting rooms across Northern Ireland in the 1980s

It shows a little girl being punished and the dog looking beseechingly at someone out of the composition, presumably the child’s parent or guardian.

The work was painted at a time when sentimental images of dogs, cats and other pets were fashionable due to the influence of Queen Victoria and the Royal family. Barber became one of Queen Victoria's favourite painters and he was commissioned to paint several works for her. The fashion for sentimental images of animals and children disappeared with the coming of the 20th century and Barber passed into obscurity. It was only in the 1980s that Victorian narrative art saw a tremendous revival. At that time 'A Special Pleader' was reproduced as a colour print and quickly became the most popular selling print of 1983–1984.

Whether you consider the print charming or naff is down to personal taste, but should you have one lying around your attic, you may want to hang onto it as retro enthusiasts are now forking out considerable sums for the iconic 1980s artwork.