BBC's Fake or Fortune uncovers 'enormously important' painting worth £100,000

BBC’s Fake or Fortune programme has identified a painting valued at £100,000 that experts describe as “enormously important.” After being told of the work’s authenticity and the projected value, Wedderbern said: "It's wonderful, it's unbelievable. Thank you truthful much." She added: "The much that we find retired astir Katherine Read, the much I deliberation she was conscionable a fantastic woman, she was conscionable super." Read, a well‑known portraitist at the time, studied in Europe, moved within elite circles and was paid more handsomely than her better‑known contemporaries, including Gainsborough. However, like many other female artists, she was largely forgotten as fashions changed and several of her portraits were re‑attributed to male artists. The Fake or Fortune team authenticated the painting by seeking other Read works for comparison, searching family archives, consulting experts and gathering letters and wills that shed new light on Read’s life in India. They reconstructed the narrative of the individuals she may have painted in Chennai, formerly known as Madras, including the Nawabs of Arcot and the local Mughal rulers. Explaining his analysis, Greig said: "The grounds from the dossier that to maine was the strongest was the method investigation done by the Courtauld." He continued: "The similarity of the representation of [her niece] Helena Beatson: the pigments, the modelling of the figures, the brushwork, were precise conclusive." The work is thought to be the earliest recorded coating of an Indian sitter by a European female artist.