A portrait delivered wrapped in a sleeping bag to the BBC programme Fake Or Fortune? has been confirmed as a work by 18th-century Scottish artist Katherine Read, estimated to be worth over £100,000. The painting is believed to be the earliest recorded painting of an Indian sitter by a European female artist.
The Discovery
Retired accountant Mary-Louise Wedderburn inherited the painting from her uncle two decades ago. It depicts an Indian woman in a formal pose, wearing a string of pearls, a large emerald pendant, and a nose ring. Wedderburn suspected it might be by Read, a distant relative, and sought confirmation from the Fake Or Fortune? team.
Co-presenter and art dealer Phillip Mould said: “We have just witnessed a significant baptism in art historical terms, and now that we have a very significant artist - and we also have a highly likely subject - this is a hugely hot area in the art market. We’re looking at £100,000 upwards. What a wonderful result, I’m sure we’re going to see more works by this pioneering woman artist in India coming out of the woodwork.”
The Investigation
Presenters Fiona Bruce and Mould worked to find authentic Read works for comparison. They examined family archives, consulted experts, and gathered letters and wills shedding light on Read's life in India. Read was a well-known portraitist specializing in women and children, but her works were often reattributed to male artists after her death.
With help from experts Professor Catriona Seth, Ashvin Rajagopalan, and artist Lachlan Goudie, the team uncovered details of Read's travels from Europe to Chennai (then Madras) and her connections with the Nawabs of Arcot and Mughal rulers.
British art historian Charles Greig concluded: “This has been one of the trickiest paintings I've ever had to consider. It is the first painting of an Indian by a European woman artist that is recorded, and that in itself is extraordinarily important.”
The Owner's Reaction
Wedderburn was overjoyed: “It's wonderful, it's unbelievable. It's just so important to me that it's by Katherine Read, because of the family connection, but also because of who she was. The more that we find out about Katherine Read, the more I think she was just a wonderful woman, she was just super. It's been a fabulous journey, and for Charles to be so categoric about the attribution is fabulous.”
When asked by Bruce if she would sell the painting, Wedderburn said no, adding that it felt an “even bigger responsibility” to look after it and put it somewhere “safe as well as public” for others to enjoy.
Bruce commented: “For Mary-Lou, she has loved this picture for so long, she so wanted it to be by Katherine Read. If, as Mary-Lou wants, it can be in an exhibition, in a gallery, where the whole world can see this picture, Mary-Lou will have given this woman not only a voice, but she will be seen. In a sense she will be brought to life and I think that's just a brilliant result.”
Fake Or Fortune? airs on Thursdays at 8pm on BBC One and is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
