Woman left speechless after BBC experts confirm old painting is worth six-figures
A woman was left gobsmacked after discovering a painting left to her by uncle was actually an ‘extraordinarily important’ work of art worth a whopping £100,000.
Retired accountant Mary-Louise Wedderburn appeared on an episode of BBC’s Fake Or Fortune? where she showed presenters Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould an old painting that had been left to her in her late uncle’s will two decades ago.
She’d kept the painting neatly wrapped up in an old sleeping bag for safe-keeping, but we reckon she’d probably have kept it somewhere a bit safer had she known how much money it was actually worth.
The portrait features an Indian woman in a formal pose, wearing a string of pearls, a large emerald pendant and a nose ring.
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Wedderburn believed the painting to be by 18th-century Scottish artist Katherine Read, but went onto the show to double-check it was legit.
Bruce and Mould were tasked with finding authentic Read works to compare with the portrait of the Indian woman to determine its legitimacy.
The duo trawled through dense family archives, and gathered letters and wills that could bring fresh insights into Read’s life in India.
They also called upon experts Professor Catriona Seth, Ashvin Rajagopalan and artist Lachlan Goudie to help shed more light on the situation and were able to finally confirm that the painting was the real deal.
British art historian Charles Greig said: “This has been one of the trickiest paintings I’ve ever had to consider.”
But he was able to confidently say he was ‘entirely certain that this painting is by Katherine Read’ as its owner had suspected.
“It is the first painting of an Indian by a European woman artist that is recorded, and that in itself is extraordinarily important,” he said.
Wedderburn, who said she is distantly related to the late painter, was initially lost for words at the result, and said: “It’s wonderful, it’s unbelievable.
“It’s just so important to me that it’s by Katherine Read, because of the family connection, but also because of who she was.
“The more that we find out about Katherine Read, the more I think she was just a wonderful woman, she was just super.
“It’s been a fabulous journey, and for Charles to be so categoric about the attribution is fabulous.”
Mould was on hand with a valuation for the painting and it’s safe to say it didn’t disappoint.
He said: “Now that we have a very significant artist – and we also have a highly likely subject – this is a hugely hot area in the art market.
“We’re looking at £100,000 upwards. What a wonderful result.
“I’m sure we’re going to see more works by this pioneering woman artist in India coming out of the woodwork.”
The painting is regarded as so culturally significant that Bruce reckoned Wedderburn could put it ‘in an exhibition, in a gallery, where the whole world can see this picture’.
"In a sense she will be brought to life and I think that's just a brilliant result,” she added.
Claire Reid