An Antiques Roadshow guest was shocked to find the picture she saved from a skip by complete chance carries a four-figure value.
In a recent episode of the BBC One show, which aired on 20 June, the guest brought a small drawing in to show expert Frances Christie.
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The picture featured a man and a woman wearing swimming costumes, embracing as they enjoyed a day at the beach.
Christie confirmed the piece was 'unmistakably' one by illustrator Quentin Blake, who is widely loved for his humorous style and well known for illustrating many of Roald Dahl's books.
Christie told the guest: "It's quite rare to see something so small that puts such a big smile on everyone's faces."
She added: "This is unmistakably the work of Quentin Blake, with that pen and ink line, the spontaneity of it, those huge smiling faces.
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"How did it come to be yours?"
The woman went on to explain that she'd found the picture in a skip in London.
She said: "Well, about thirty years ago when I was an art student in London, I had a summer holiday job to clear out an office of a charity.
"And amongst all the papers that were going in the skip was this drawing."
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Stunned by her story, an impressed Christie exclaimed: "No way!"
The woman told Christie how she'd recognised the picture as one of Blake's illustrations as he was one of her 'favourite artists'.
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She said she had even been able to reunite the drawing with its creator to get it signed, in turn making the item even more valuable.
The guest continued: "A friend was going to interview Quentin Blake and so I gave him the illustration and said, 'If you get the opportunity, could you ask him to sign it?'
"Quentin Blake told my friend the story behind the drawing, and it was an illustration for a leaflet about contraception.
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"And originally, the couple were naked, but the powers that be thought it was a little bit risqué, so he was asked to put the swimming costumes on them."
Christie eventually cut to the chase and revealed what she estimated the picture would be worth today - surprising the guest with a not-too-shabby four-figure number.
She said: "Given that you didn't pay a bean for it, and it's something that you found amongst a bunch of boring papers, if this was to come up at auction today we would probably expect a valuation of somewhere between £1,000 to £1,500."
Needless to say, the guest was pretty thrilled by the value of her unique skip discovery, saying: "Oh my goodness, that's amazing!"
Featured Image Credit: BBC
Topics: UK News, News, Antiques Roadshow, Art