Antiques Roadshow guest blown away as painting he bought for £20 is valued at £18k in Ealing episode
Antiques Roadshow has come to Ealing, West London, tonight for the latest episode in its 47th series. It returns to the beautiful Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery for the third and final episode BBC filmed there earlier this year in May, airing at 8pm on BBC One.
Over 3,000 guests attended the filming of the episodes hosted by Fiona Bruce. They saw amazing antique items like a set of watercolour paints that belonged to Queen Victoria, ‘dummy boards’ and not forgetting the rare wartime medal awarded to the carrier pigeon Mary.
Today the first guest on the show turned up with a portrait of a young boy with a golden background. He said he paid just £20 or £30 for it in a charity shop in the 1980s but now it is apparently worth between £12,000 to £18,000 - up to 600 times more than he paid for it.
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The painting is signed FD Oeder which Antique expert Frances Christie revealed was for Frans David Oeder, a Dutch painter born in Holland who ended up painting a lot in South Africa and made a name for himself there. Ms Christie estimated that it was likely painted late 19th or early 20th Century but said: "It feels exceptionally fresh. It could have been painted yesterday and I think that shows how good Oeder was."
The guest told the story of how he got it: after being brought up in South Africa in Cape Town he moved to the UK in the mid-80s. He kept returning to Cape Town to visit family however and, he said: "I saw it in a bric-a-brac shop and as soon as I saw him I thought 'I have to have that' so I bought him and brought him back to the UK so he's been here ever since."
Ms Chrisite praised Oeder's work: "He was very classically trained at art school in Rotterdam and in about 1890 he came to South Africa and was one of the very few artists at the time who had professional training and I think you can see that in this portrait. He's managed to capture the very subtle facial features and thoughtfulness of this boy beautifully."
"He's made this portrait look effortless," she added, despite the difficulty of using oil paints. She said that this is not a typical Oeder painting who is usually known for still life paintings. The guest also admired the work saying: "It was really capturing the essence of a person which is so important and the colours are also lovely and it's just such a simple painting in a way."
Christie believe this would not have been a commission but an impromptu painting because it is not Oeder's usual style. The impressed expert finally said: "If this would come to auction today then I can't see and estimate any less between 12 to 18 thousand pounds."
The shocked guest exclaimed: "Really? That's amazing, I had no idea. Thank you so much, that's so fascinating."
The Pitzhanger Manor in Ealing is filled with just as much history as the items on the show, belonging to legendary architect Sir John Soane who designed the Bank of England. The manor was where Sir Soane's entertained his celebrity friends like renowned artist JMW Turner. It served as a hub of creativity and intellect, hosting top figures from art, finance and politics.
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