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A self-portrait by Anthony van Dyck has sold for £8.3m – more than double its estimated price – at an auction in London.

The last-known portrait of the painter had been expected to sell for up to £3m, auction house Sotheby’s said.

The £8.3m price tag broke the previous auction record of £3.06m for Van Dyck’s painting A Rearing Stallion.

Art dealer Philip Mould said buying the portrait was an "opportunity we could not miss".

Mr Mould added: "This is the most important 17th-Century British portrait to come on the market in the last two decades. It was an opportunity we could not miss."

‘Missing’ portrait

Van Dyck painted the self-portrait in the last months of his life.

It had remained in the possession of the Earls of Jersey for almost 300 years and previously belonged to artist Sir Peter Lely.

In February a portrait by Van Dyck, previously believed to be lost, went on public display for the first time in more than a century.

The 17th Century painting of Katherine, Lady Stanhope featured in an exhibition of Van Dyck works at London’s Tate Britain museum.

Following a 1929 private sale, the Stanhope portrait was officially logged as "whereabouts unknown", but turned up again at an auction in New York in 2006.