£1 CAR BOOT SALE PAINTING SOLD FOR £29,000

A Dirty old oil piece of art bought only for £1 at a car boot sale has been auctioned for a astonishing £29,000.

The faded still life of papers, quill pens, as well as notebooks didn’t appear spectacular.

But when the bargain seeker, that wishes to stay private, took it to an auction house, experts pointed out it was a rare work by Dutch artist Edwaert Collier.

The seventeenth century artwork – bought at a car boot sale in Sudbury, Suffolk – went underneath the hammer to a London art gallery.

Valuer Tim Turner, of Sworders auction house in Stansted Mountfitchet, Suffolk, said the seller had “struck lucky”.

He mentioned: “When we informed him just how much we valued it at he was amazed and he is actually genuinely delighted about the purchase.

“We have lots of people bringing in things to us to value and most of times these are nothing exclusive.

“It’s one of those seminal results and one of those stories you see on the television that you don’t quite believe.”

Collier is highly regarded for his still lifes and his works hang in London’s Victoria & Albert Museum and in New York.

This example, titled “A Trompe L’Oeil, Still Life of a Letter Rack with Newspapers, Feather Quill, Sealed Letters, Sealing Wax and Seals”, attracted strong interest despite its dirty condition.