Antiques Roadshow viewers stunned as ‘saucy’ Helen Mirren drawing receives impressive valuation
AN ANTIQUES Roadshow expert left a guest looking gobsmacked after finding out the true value of one of her items.
Lisa Lloyd was joined by a guest on the BBC show, during an episode filmed in Hackney.
The guest was keen to find out the value of an amazing portrait of a young woman which she'd picked up a few years ago.
The framed drawing was in fact, a young Helen Mirren, and showed the award-winning actress in the nude.
In the artwork, Helen can be seen smiling as she tilts her head back and holds a sheet over her chest.
Lisa told the guest: "Now, it may not be immediately obvious but this is Helen Mirren aged 19 or 20.
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";Of course, she went on to become one of our most prominent actors."
The guest told Lisa that she'd found the sketch of Helen at Portobello Road Market, which is near her house.
She said: "I go there every Friday morning and look through the boxes and this was down there.
"There's a guy I see most weeks, sometimes he has some rubbish, sometimes not."
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The guest had picked up the vintage artwork as it was a "bit saucy" and ";kitsch".
Lisa replied: "Well it is both of those things as it is saucy and kitsch."
The expert explained that the famous sketch was created by an artist called Nicholas Egon who was self-taught.
"She is a little bit saucy, she's got a bit of spark to her," said Lisa.
"It's only semi-erotic, you can't quite [see anything]," Lisa added which the guest agreed made the picture "sexier".
The guest had paid £100 for the artwork but told her husband it cost £50, in order to keep the peace.
The expert told her that usually these kind of portraits - if they were of an unknown model - would fetch around £150-£200 at auction, which is already a profit.
However, she added that: "I think the fact that it's Helen Mirren, we could probably double that to £300 or £400."
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The guest was overjoyed, replying: "Oh that's great, well I love it!"
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Antiques Roadshow episodes are available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
