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£5 Market Find on Antiques Roadshow Valued at £22,000 as Company School Art

Expert attribution to the East India Company’s Company School drove a valuation far beyond the original purchase.

Overview

  • Sunday’s episode, hosted by Fiona Bruce at Lister Park and Cartwright Hall in Bradford, featured two Indian art albums brought by two guests.
  • Specialist Runjeet Singh identified the works as Company School paintings, noting depictions of Indian daily life for European audiences and dating one image to 1780.
  • He said the artworks are highly sought after but vary in quality, with individual illustrations around £1,000 and a portrait estimated at £6,000–£8,000.
  • Singh set a minimum combined valuation of about £22,000 for the two albums, surprising the owners who said they were too beautiful to sell.
  • The guests said the albums were acquired at a Dublin second-hand market for roughly £5, and no sale or change of ownership was reported.