Antiques Roadshow guest disappointed after expert issues warning over 'fake' painting bought for 70p
On a repeated episode of Antiques Roadshow, one guest's hopes were dashed when specialist Alexandra Gill revealed that her family's painting was merely a "copy" and not an original.
"I have to ask, how did you come by the portrait of Sulky? " the expert queried. "My parents bought him from a Cirencester car boot sale in the late 80s because my dad thought that Sulky looked like his dad, it's been in our house ever since," recounted the guest.
"And do you remember your grandfather? " probed Alexandra, reports the Express.
"Yeah I do," the guest affirmed, which led Alexandra to ask: "And would this remind you of him? " prompting the guest to quip lightheartedly: "Yes. He could definitely get a sulk on!"
"Well the original is a drawing by Gerald W Tooby," revealed the expert prior to letting slip the disappointing news that it was a fake. "But sadly this is a copy of the drawing."
Visibly let down, the guest could only respond with: "Oh right!"
"One of the reasons you can tell that it is a copy is because it's got very sharp edges," Alexandra continued her explanation.
"And if you look very, very closely, you can see it's pixelated, so you can see very, very small dots as the image is made up, which is another indication that it's a copy."
"It does have Gerard Tooby's signature on it, in ballpoint, so that's always quite fun to have. It means that he knew about it," the expert said, finding a silver lining regarding the painting.
"How much did you pay for it?" she eventually inquired.
The guest chuckled: "Approximately 70p," prompting Alexandra to breathe a sigh of relief and exclaim: "Well, I'm delighted to say you probably doubled your money."
"Right well, okay," the guest responded with a hint of disappointment, before