Fake or Fortune

Fisherman Tony couldn't believe his luck when he stumbled upon a cache of pictures apparently dumped at his favourite riverside spot. Fast forward 15 years and Tony, accompanied by his daughter, is told by Philip Mould at a recording of Antiques Roadshow one of the pictures is worth £30,000. It's an unknown work by one of America's most important 19th century artists, Winslow Homer. But how did it end up being dumped in such an unlikely place and who legally owns the picture? As Philip & Fiona investigate, the story takes a series of unexpected turns; in the Bahamas we crack when and why the painting was made and who the mysterious sitters are, whilst in New York an auction house values the picture closer to $250,000 in preparation for sale. But a tense denouement within minutes of the auction turns everything upside down when a mysterious figure arrives and raises even bigger questions for all involved.