'Enormously important' painting worth £100,000 discovered on Fake or Fortune
The painting by 18th century Scottish artist Katherine Read was left to Mary-Louise Wedderburn by her uncle, with the retired accountant always having an inkling that it may have been painted by Read - a long-distance relative of hers.
An “enormously important” portrait by Katherine Read worth £100,000 has been discovered thanks to BBC art show Fake or Fortune.
The painting by the 18th century Scottish artist was left to Mary-Louise Wedderburn by her uncle, with the retired accountant always having an inkling that it may have been painted by Read - a long-distance relative of hers.
And that was confirmed by British art historian and independent expert Charles Greig, who was left stunned by the discovery on BBC show Fake or Fortune on Thursday night (23.07.26).
The painting features an Indian woman wearing a pearl necklace, a large emerald pendant and a nose ring - sitting in a formal pose.
In a bid to authenticate the painting, Fake or Fortune hosts Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould spoke to experts and compared the painting to other Read works, as well as looking through letters which may have given them information about Read’s time in India.
In the episode, Greig said: “This has been one of the trickiest paintings I've ever had to consider. I’ve read your dossier very carefully and it’s incredibly impressive. On the basis of all the evidence put together, I am entirely certain that this painting is by Katherine Read.
“The evidence from the dossier that to me was the strongest was the technical analysis done by the Courtauld. The similarity of the portrait of [her niece] Helena Beatson: the pigments, the modelling of the figures, the brushwork, were very conclusive. And more so, it is the first painting of an Indian by a European woman artist that is recorded, and that in itself is extraordinarily important.
“One of the most interesting things about this painting is that I’m pretty certain that she [the sitter] is a member of the Nawab’s family in Madras, and that is extremely unusual because most of the other portraits of Indian ladies are a companion, or sometimes a wife, of a European.
“But I can’t think of another portrait of an Indian lady of this period that is actually part of a royal court rather than a European’s household. That makes it enormously important."
While the painting’s owner Mary-Louise told Greig: “It’s wonderful, it’s unbelievable. Thank you so much. It's just so important to me that it's by Katherine Read, because of the family connection, but also because of who she was.
“The more that we find out about Katherine Read, the more I think she was just a wonderful woman, she was just super.
“It’s been a fabulous journey, and for Charles to be so categoric about the attribution is fabulous."
