Antiques Roadshow guest offers surprising response to astronomical valuation of prized portrait by one of Britain’s most copied artists
A rare work by one of Britain’s finest artists has sparked an equally rare reaction after receiving an astronomical rating on Antiques Roadshow.
Sunday night’s episode of the long-running BBC show welcomed guests and their dusty heirlooms to the historic Stonor House in Oxfordshire.
But art historian Lawrence Hendra was visibly stunned after being confronted with an original work by mid-20th century artist LS Lowry, famous for his depictions of industrial Manchester.
The artist, who died in 1976 aged 88, is one of Britain’s most copied artists, but his framed painting of a crudely drawn male figure was fortunately authenticated by an unnamed gallery after he was killed halfway through the bought for less than £200 in the 1960s.
“He captured the mood of the nation, I think,” Hendra said. ‘Lowry’s origin is crucial.
A rare work by one of Britain’s finest artists sparks an equally rare reaction after receiving an astronomical rating on Antiques Roadshow
Art historian Lawrence Hendra was visibly stunned after being confronted with an original work by mid-20th century artist LS Lowry
“Fortunately on the back of your photo you have a label from the gallery which you know represented Lowry and which sold many of his works, and you also have this letter.”
He produced a piece of correspondence from the gallery and added: ‘And this letter was sent to you in 1998 by the director of the gallery, and it says: ‘Further to your letter of 29 July, Lowry’s painting was purchased by us sold in 1965 for £175 and all labels and stock codes are present.”
The appraisal, however, elicited little more than a subdued chuckle and a thank you from the elderly owner – a contrast to the usual surprised reaction.
“In terms of value, I think if your painting came to auction I would expect it to sell for between £60 and £80,000,” Kendra said.
The show previously welcomed Swallows and Amazons actress Sophie Neville to filming from the Lake District, 50 years after she appeared in the iconic family film.
The former child star, 64, who played Titty Walker and is now an author, brought along memorabilia from the 1974 set, including pirate flags and a bow and arrow.
The film, based on the 1930 novel by Arthur Ransome, followed the Walker children and their adventures in the Lake District as they sailed in their dinghy named Swallow.
Expert Mark Allum was impressed with the collection, as Sophie said: ‘[Starring in the movie] was a great opportunity and we came over and filmed it on location overlooking Lake Windermere.
The artist is one of Britain’s most forged artists, but his framed painting of a crudely drawn male figure was fortunately authenticated by an unnamed gallery.
The £60-£80,000 valuation elicited little more than a subdued chuckle and a thank you from the elderly owner – a contrast to the usual surprised reaction
When the antiques empresario saw the original Swallows flag from their boat, he said, “I just have to touch it out of respect.”
Sophie then joked: “My character Titty made that flag, in reality the props made it, and I was twelve, playing a nine year old and I thought those stitches were quite sloppy and big and I could have made a much neater flag . An’.
Turning to valuation, Mark mused: ‘In monetary terms, worth about £4,000 to £6,000 at auction.’
Shocked, the actress asked, “Really?! These little things?’.
Smiling, he assured her, “Those hard-core fans would kill for a bit of movie memorabilia like this.”