A portrait of legendary comedian Jasper Carrott which the star paid thousands of pounds for has been accidentally sold by a charity shop - for just £20.
The Brummie entertainer commissioned artist Hilary J Baker to produce the etching using his hair, fingerprints, blood and saliva, and paid a hefty some to have it made.
Hilary then donated the piece to Kemp Hospice Charity shop to display for their art trail earlier this month and the 80cm square artwork was emblazoned with a ‘Not For Sale’ sign and hung on the wall of the shop in Bewdley, Worcs.
But a bungling volunteer accidentally sold it to a mystery woman who didn’t realise it was on display and snapped it up for just £20 on July 13.
The charity has now launched a desperate appeal for the customer to return the picture so it can be given to Jasper, 77.
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Artist Hilary, 60, said: "The picture is a forensic etching print which required many visits to my Bewdley studio by Jasper, and I used his hair, fingerprints, blood and even spit in my unique forensic etching process.
"Jasper is a friend and he had to sit many times for the work. He commissioned the work, I haven’t even told him it’s gone.
"I would hope he would see the funny side as long as it is returned.
"It was the proof from which I would create more etchings and obviously I would present it to Jasper.
"The picture means a great deal to me, and I was devastated to learn it had been mistakenly sold."
Hilary, who has a studio in Bewdley, initially loaned the portrait to the charity as a favour.
It was displayed in the shop as part of Foundry Artist Art Trail 2022 which included 20 locations around the town.
She said: "I thought it would be a nice picture for the charity to put on their wall for the art trail.
"I found out it had been mistakenly sold when I went into the shop and my picture was not on the wall.
"All I know is that a dark-haired lady with a Black Country accent bought it on the morning with several other items on July 13.
"We have tried to contact the police but they will not help. The only hope is that the customer realises what has happened and returns it."
Hilary, who works around the world, charges upwards of £5,000 for her commissioned works.
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Caroline Beech, CEO of KEMP Hospice, said: "We were devasted to learn that this genuine and unfortunate mistake had occurred, and everyone across the whole team is very concerned to see Hilary reunited with her picture as soon as possible."
Gary Barnes, Head of Retail at KEMP, added: "We have exhausted all avenues of tracking the picture down, which is why we are now appealing for help from our local community.
"We are genuinely sorry for what has happened. We’ve conducted an internal investigation and are confident that it was an unfortunate human error.
"We hope that the person who purchased the picture will understand and will get in touch to help us reunite it with Hilary."
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