On the latest instalment of Antiques Roadshow, a guest's hopes were dashed when expert Alexandra Gill revealed that her treasured family painting was merely a "copy" and not an original. "I have to ask, how did you come by the portrait of Sulky? " Alexandra probed. The guest recounted: "My parents bought him from a Cirencester car-boot sale in the late 80s because my dad thought that Sulky looked like his dad, it's been in our house ever since.
" "And do you remember your grandfather? " Alexandra pressed on. "Yeah I do," the guest responded, prompting Alexandra to ask: "And would this remind you of him? " to which the guest humorously replied: "Yes. He could definitely get a sulk on," reports the Express .
"Well the original is a drawing by Gerald W Tooby," Alexandra clarified before delivering the disappointing news: "But sadly this is a copy of the drawing." The guest's expression fell as she simply answered: "Oh right!" "One of the reasons you can tell that it is a copy is because it's got very sharp edges," Alexandra continued. "And if you look very, very closely, you can see it's pixelated, so you can see very, very small dots as the image is made up, which is another indication that it's a copy.
" "It does have Gerard Tooby's signature on it, in ballpoint, so that's always quite fun to have. It means that he knew about it," the Antiques Roadshow expert added, trying to find a silver lining. "Can I ask how much you paid for it?" she inquired.
The guest couldn't help but chuckle, remarking: "Approximately 70p," prompting Alexandra to release a sigh of relief, and exclaim: "Well, I'm delighted to say you probably doubled your money." Disheartened yet taking it in stride, the guest responded with a laugh, "Right well, okay," Adding a touch of optimism, she remarked: "Better than nothing!" In another segment of the episode, John Benjamin evaluated a necklace with some of the largest chunks of Baltic amber he'd ever come across, while elsewhere, Jon Baddeley showed great appreciation for a humble compass, which had once belonged to local hero Edgar Evans. Evans was part of Captain Scott's tragic Antarctic expedition, tragically becoming one of the first to perish on the icy continent.
Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on BBC iPlayer..
