One woman said she was 'astonished' after finding out a painting she spent £25 on was worth a small fortune.
Appearing on BBC's Antiques Roadshow on an episode that aired Sunday, July 2, the guest appeared alongside others who shared their stories behind a wide range of special and unique items, including a 300-year-old love token. One woman though showed up with an oil painting which she bought from a charity shop for £25, Wales Online reports.
Introducing the piece of art, Grant Ford explained: "He is such an immediate, fluid, colourful painting, I'd love to be able to paint just like this. It really is a confident, colourist painting, now, it's an oil on canvas and it's clearly signed lower right, Cunningham."
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Asking the guest how she came to own it, she replied: "So I bought this painting 10 years ago, it's a Scottish scene, a peninsula on the west coast of Scotland and we'd all had a family holiday there.
"We were driving home, all the way back to Shropshire, and my children were only 10 and 12 and I realised the rain was coming down and I had no raincoat for the children, so I stopped at the nearest charity shop and went in to get a raincoat but I didn't get a raincoat, I got a painting."
"What a lovely story, gosh I wish I got there before you," Grant responded. He then explained that Josh Cunningham was a senior lecturer at the Glasgow School of Art and was from Lancashire.
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However, in 1985 he retired and became a professional artist, with the oil painting appearing on the Roadshaw being a much-desired piece. Grant then asked: "You go into the charity shop for a raincoat, and you find a picture by John Cunningham, one of his favourite subjects, what did you pay for it?"
The guest explained she paid £25 for the painting 10 years ago, to which Grant replied: "I just think that's an amazing bit of luck because this is a very sought-after painting and actually holds quite a lot of value. I can confidently say it's worth £4,000 to £6,000."
"Oh wow, that's quite astonishing for £25, I'm glad I bought it," the delighted guest said, as Grant added: "You could have found a raincoat that day, luckily you found a brilliant painting."
