BBC Antiques Roadshow guest shares heartfelt reason for refusing to sell painting - despite four-figure value
GB News panel take aim at Antiques Roadshow panel after expert refuses to value item
GB News
Painting expert Rupert Maas could not convince a determined guest to part with a beloved painting - despite giving it a huge four-figure valuation.
In the episode that aired on Sunday on the BBC, Fiona Bruce and her team of appraisers came to the Scottish Borders to marvel at, among other treasures, a gold casket gifted by a Russian Tsar and a gold disc gifted by Rod Stweart.
The experts also examined a silver chalice believed to have been found in a potato field and two signed Harry Potter volumes brought by separate guests.
There were even two pieces depicting Thirlestane Castle itself, an embroidered sampler and a rare watercolour by Borders artist Tom Scott.
However, it was another "terrific picture” that drew the eye of Maas.
The painting, called A Bit Of Cheer, depicts a man sitting atop a horse and cart speaking merrily to a girl in a doorway.
A Bit Of Cheer by Nathaniel Baird
BBC
“At the end of a very long day, he’s flirting with this girl over a pint,” Maas observed before he added: “The horse isn’t at all happy about it, is it?”
The guest, laughing, agreed: “No, no. It’s the expression on his face is just brilliant, isn't it?”
A Bit Of Cheer’s amusing scene, featuring the charming farmer and surly workhorse, was painted by Devon-based artist Nathaniel Baird.
“What’s it doing here in Scotland?” Maas asked.
A flirting farmer and his unimpressed workhorse
BBC
The guest revealed the artist was born in the nearby village of Yetholm, where she and her family have a horse farm today.
Her grandmother “fell in love” at first sight with the painting and bought it immediately from a friend’s gallery.
“It was my grandmother’s, and she absolutely adored it. If she knew it was here today being filmed, she would be absolutely over the moon because she was very, very proud of it.”
Maas praised the painting’s unexpected splashes of colour, from the brilliant green of a cockerel’s comb to the blue of the cart’s wood, for elevating the piece.
“All of that adds to building some colour and pinging in that otherwise rather bland background.”
When it came to valuation, Maas was clear in his verdict that the painting could fetch quite a bit of cash.
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Maas particularly praised the painting's splashes of colour
BBC
“I think on the open market, it’s going to be £2,000 to £3,000 of anyone’s money. More like closer to £4,000. We’ll see," he appraised.
However, despite the prospect of thousands of pounds entering their bank account, the guest stood firm: “You won’t see it because he’s not for sale, no."
“Personally, I think it’s worth more to me because I love it so much (more) than a real value. Because I’d never sell it.”
Maas understood why the painting was so treasured by the guest and thanked her for bringing it in. She responded: “It’s just nice to know that everybody else thinks it’s so beautiful as well.”
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