Fake or Fortune: BBC programme uncovers ‘enormously important’ 18th Century painting

After being told about the originality and predicted value of the work, Wedderbern said: “This is amazing, incredible. Thank you very much.”

“It means a lot to me that Katherine Read wrote it, both because of her family ties and because of who she is.”

He added: “The more I learn about Katherine Read, the more I think she is a wonderful woman, superb.”

Read, then a well-known portrait artist, was educated in Europe, moved professionally in elite circles, and became so successful that he was earning more generous salaries than his more well-known contemporaries, including Gainsborough.

However, like many other female artists, she was largely forgotten as fashions changed and some of her portraits were re-attributed to male artists.

The Fake or Fortune team confirmed the painting’s authenticity by trying to find other Read works to compare it to, scouring family archives, speaking to experts, and collecting letters and wills that provide a new perspective on Read’s life in India.

They pieced together the story of the people he may have painted in Chennai, India, then known as Madras, including the Nawabs of Arcot, local Mughal rulers.

Explaining his analysis, Greig said: “The strongest evidence in the file, in my opinion, was the technical analysis by Courtauld.

“The similarity of the portrait [her niece] Helena Beatson: The pigments, the modeling of the figures, the brushwork were very impressive.”

The work is thought to be the earliest recorded painting of an Indian sitter by a European female artist.