Grimy painting revealed as masterpiece

Jerry Barrett

Following two years of painstaking detective work, a Yorkshire family has succeeded in proving the attribution of a Victorian painting - and seen its value rise by 20 times as a result.

The Sutcliffe family, which owns a gallery in Harrogate, bought the painting, which depicts an English lady being dressed by two servants in Turkey (left), for £9,000. Christie's had previously described it as being by an unknown student or imitator of John Callcot Horsley, the designer of the first ever Christmas card, and thus not particularly valuable.

%VIRTUAL-SkimlinksPromo%