Teh One Who Knocks
07-27-2020, 11:19 AM
By Tiffany Lo - The Daily Star
https://i.imgur.com/B201CgT.jpg
A man was left disappointed when he found out the real value of what he thought was a portrait painted by a famous artist.
The guest appeared on BBC 's Antiques Roadshow with a gold-framed painting along with an auction catalogue from the time it was purchased before it was passed on in his family.
He told painting specialist Rupert Maas that the portrait was thought to be painted by the popular artist Sir Peter Lely, sometime in the 1600s.
But the expert was certain that what the guest had was not an original but most likely a copy painted in the 19th century.
Rupert said the catalogue of 1845 indicated the painting as one of Lely's but it had a loose interpretation of the trade description act.
"The thing about Lely, the great portrait painter that he was, is that when he died he left hundreds of unfinished portraits and versions of portraits already done," he told the guest.
"His students and studio assistants finished them really quickly, and sold them all so that his entire estate including his collection of old masters made something like £30,000 in the 17th century, which was a massive amount of money. He was so popular."
However, looking at the portrait, he pointed out some of the details he found that didn't quite fit into Lely's painting style.
https://i.imgur.com/e31XKUQ.jpg
The expert explained: "The secret here is not to look too closely I’m afraid, you can tell I’m softening you up for a bit of a blow.
"Sorry but I think, I’m afraid, this is a shadow of a dream. It's not even by a studio assistant. I think it's a much later copy.
"Something about the reduced scale, of course it should be massive, makes it look more domestic. Something about the frankly Victorian idea of a 17th-century frame, it's been copied.
"And the colours are slightly gaudier than you’d expect, a little bit of clunkiness in the drawing of the hand, and then put on top of that this brown finish which is quite deliberately antiquing it, I think what we're looking at is a 19th-century copy."
While the guest looks a bit deflated, Rupert continues to deliver the bad news.
"If it was an original Lely, it would be pretty well around a million," he said. "But as it is, it's probably worth around I don't know, £600. I'm sorry to let you down."
https://i.imgur.com/B201CgT.jpg
A man was left disappointed when he found out the real value of what he thought was a portrait painted by a famous artist.
The guest appeared on BBC 's Antiques Roadshow with a gold-framed painting along with an auction catalogue from the time it was purchased before it was passed on in his family.
He told painting specialist Rupert Maas that the portrait was thought to be painted by the popular artist Sir Peter Lely, sometime in the 1600s.
But the expert was certain that what the guest had was not an original but most likely a copy painted in the 19th century.
Rupert said the catalogue of 1845 indicated the painting as one of Lely's but it had a loose interpretation of the trade description act.
"The thing about Lely, the great portrait painter that he was, is that when he died he left hundreds of unfinished portraits and versions of portraits already done," he told the guest.
"His students and studio assistants finished them really quickly, and sold them all so that his entire estate including his collection of old masters made something like £30,000 in the 17th century, which was a massive amount of money. He was so popular."
However, looking at the portrait, he pointed out some of the details he found that didn't quite fit into Lely's painting style.
https://i.imgur.com/e31XKUQ.jpg
The expert explained: "The secret here is not to look too closely I’m afraid, you can tell I’m softening you up for a bit of a blow.
"Sorry but I think, I’m afraid, this is a shadow of a dream. It's not even by a studio assistant. I think it's a much later copy.
"Something about the reduced scale, of course it should be massive, makes it look more domestic. Something about the frankly Victorian idea of a 17th-century frame, it's been copied.
"And the colours are slightly gaudier than you’d expect, a little bit of clunkiness in the drawing of the hand, and then put on top of that this brown finish which is quite deliberately antiquing it, I think what we're looking at is a 19th-century copy."
While the guest looks a bit deflated, Rupert continues to deliver the bad news.
"If it was an original Lely, it would be pretty well around a million," he said. "But as it is, it's probably worth around I don't know, £600. I'm sorry to let you down."