An Antiques Roadshow guest was left stunned when the true value of a pencil drawing was revealed.
The woman appeared on a recent episode of the BBC show, where she spoke to expert Suzanne Zack about her heirloom, which was handed down to her when her brother passed away.
She recalled how her sibling had purchased the item before his death, and whilst she couldn't remember exactly what he would have paid for it, she knew it was "certainly a couple £100 and no more".
So she was left pleasantly surprised when Suzanne revealed the true significance of the item and its eye-watering resale value.
Speaking to the guest, Suzanne said: "When I saw this drawing that you brought in today, it was behind glass and I had to lean in and think, 'Could this be an original drawing?' We had it taken out of the frame and removed the glass and we lifted the new mount that you had put on it to find the original mount inside and to see it's by Henry Ryland.
"She's called Jasmine. It is an original pencil drawing by him. How did you come to have this drawing?"
The guest explained it was bought in London by her print dealer brother, with Suzanne then announcing it was by famed artist Henry Ryland, who she said is "considered to be one of the foremost artists of the neoclassical revival."
"But this is a pencil drawing and what strikes you when you look at it, is the level of meticulous detail in the modelling and the drapery and the beautiful face, which he has captured so softly and so sympathetically," she added.
"But there's something else about her that I think, is worth mentioning, and that is that she might be dressed in classical drapery, but she's also very much a woman of her time. And at that time, in the late 19th century, around the 1870s, 1880s the aesthetic movement was very much in fashion, and she looks very much like a contemporary woman, wearing the looser, more romantic clothing, casting away the tight-fitting restrictive corsets. She really feels like she could have been a model of that time."
She then asked the guest what she loved most about it, as the guest praised its intricacy. It was then that Suzanne gave her incredible valuation on the stunning pencil drawing.
"There was a drawing of a very similar model, it might have been the same model that came up for auction only a few months ago and I would say that your drawing was equal, if not more beautiful. I think if that example is anything to go by, this could easily fetch in the region of £30,000," she said, leaving the guest completely speechless.
Asked about her future plans for the picture, she replied: "Maybe I'll have a bit more respect I don’t know if that’s the right word. I have always loved looking at her so I think she does deserve perhaps a bit more of a flamboyant frame."
