An Antiques Roadshow guest was left speechless after nearly donating a painting without realising its true worth.
In a recent episode of the BBC show filmed at Cromford Mills, Derbyshire, expert Lawrence Hendra was surprised by a guest who brought in an unusual painting.
The guest arrived with a unique piece of art that had an intriguing history, leaving Lawrence astonished. “So of all the paintings I was not expecting to see here at Cromford Mills in Derbyshire, is a painting by an artist from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pili Pili Mulongoy,” he said.
The guest explained that she purchased the painting as part of a larger collection of artwork and prints. However, she didn’t actually want all of the pieces that came with the set, reports the Mirror.
“I was going to take them to a charity shop,” she admitted. The guest continued: “I had this one in my arms and I noticed that it had got a signature and could tell that it was a real painting.”
They added, “I tried to do some research about it and it’s been on my wall ever since.”
When asked what initially attracted her to the painting, she added: “I think you love it or you hate it and it’s really lovely and colourful and I love the little antelope and I can appreciate how it’s painted. I paint myself and I just really love it.”
Exploring the canvas, art expert Lawrence revealed: “As you can see, it’s signed on the bottom right, Pili Pili, and he came from a very working-class family, he trained as a plumber and a builder and then he fell under guidance of a French artist. He went to a drawing school set up by him, he won a prize and thereafter, he managed to develop this style of painting that was uniquely his own and you see a lot of this very delicate, vertical colouring in his pictures.
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“This is on canvas, water colours and oils, but they’re often very flat in perspective, the animals, which are the main features of his work, are often on the same picture plain as grass and sometimes forest-type backgrounds.”
The expert continued to note Pili Pili’s significant popularity, even among the Belgian Royals. The guest, astonished by her good fortune, remarked, “Good job I didn’t give it away!”
Recalling how she snagged the piece for a mere £18 approximately six years prior. “I had my eye on a print in this bundle of paintings and, as I say, I donated some to a local charity shop on the way home because I didn’t want them all,” she added.
However, Lawrence’s valuation left her astounded when he mentioned the original piece could easily command between £3,000 to £5,000 if put under the hammer. “No! ” she reacted, staggered by the revelation.
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