An Antiques Roadshow guest was left stunned after being told a painting she bought for cheap from a charity shop could fetch her a handsome profit. The iconic BBC show headed to Powis Castle in Wales to hear from locals who wanted their prized possessions valued by the experts.
One of the guests brought along an oil painting showing Scottish islands. During the segment of the BBC One show, the owner spoke about how she had paid just £25 for it while heading back home to Shropshire from a family holiday.
She told expert Grant Ford it was not what she had originally planned on buying having ventured into the charity shop to pick up a cheap raincoat as the heavens had just opened. Ford went onto say the painting was from the renowned artist John Cunningham, WalesOnline reports.
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Introducing the artwork, Ford told the cameras: "This is such an immediate, fluid, colourful painting, I'd love to be able to paint just like this. It really is a confident, colourist painting, now, it's an oil on canvas and it's clearly signed lower right, Cunningham."
The guest said: "So I bought this painting 10 years ago, it's a Scottish scene, a peninsula on the west coast of Scotland and we'd all had a family holiday there. We were driving home, all the way back to Shropshire, and my children were only 10 and 12 and I realised the rain was coming down and I had no raincoat for the children, so I stopped at the nearest charity shop and went in to get a raincoat but I didn't get a raincoat, I got a painting."
Ford was gobsmacked by the owner's story, adding "gosh I wish I got there before you". He explained Cunningham was a senior lecturer at the Glasgow School of Art who became a professional artist in 1985 after retiring.
He said the oil painting in front of them was a desired piece. When he asked how much she had paid for it, the owner said £25.
"I just think that's an amazing bit of luck because this is a very sought-after painting and actually holds quite a lot of value," Ford said. "I can confidently say it's worth £4,000 to £6,000."
This left the guest "astonished" at the possible profit on her doorstep for her bargain item. Ford added: "You could have found a raincoat that day, luckily you found a brilliant painting."
