Amongst the less than significant items, a painting the size of a postcard turned out to be an original John Constable worth almost $400,000.
The 19th century painting depicts a summery scene filled with trees, rolling hills and clouds. Darvell’s son has the painting appraised on CNB's "Treasure Detectives," where the host Curtis Dowling confirmed that John Constable had painted the tiny landscape. Dowling thought that the painting belonged to Constable’s father-in-law and assessed that it was worth $388,000.
Constable is known for painting landscapes and his painting "The Lock" sold for $35 million last year.
In an interview with BBC, Darvell tells how the painting actually came into his possession via his father. Dowling further explains how he and experts came to the conclusion that the piece was in fact a John Constable original.
When Darvell suggested to his family that the painting could be a Constable he was met with laughter. "We never took him seriously," Darvell’s son said. "I don’t think he believed it entirely, so it became a bit of a family joke."
Looks like Robert Darvell will be the one laughing all the way to bank.
Photo Credit: Carl Court, AFP/Getty Images
Words of Wisdom
My memory is so bad that I finally have a clear conscience .
My senior moments sometimes turn into a week long vacation.
Grant me the senility to forget the people I never knew , the good fortune to those I do and the vision to tell the difference .
We do not stop laughing because we grow old , we grow old because we stop laughing .
G. ------------A proud grandpa
