A mislabelled oil canvas sold for £2,090 at a regional UK auction was later authenticated by experts as a long‑lost Helen McNicoll masterpiece worth £300,000.
The canvas, framed in a cheap plastic 1960s frame, bore a brass plaque that misspelled McNicoll’s name and claimed a 1958 creation date, a century after the artist’s death.
David Taylor, an artist and part‑time dealer, noticed the brushwork’s quality and, after removing the frame, discovered a faint signature that matched McNicoll’s hand. He then turned to the BBC series Fake or Fortune?, where art dealer Philip Mould and broadcaster Fiona Bruce led a forensic analysis that matched pigments and ultraviolet fluorescence with McNicoll’s known works.
Research traced the painting to a private British collection, the Pine‑Coffin family, whose owner Norman Pine‑Coffin was a contemporary of McNicoll, suggesting the piece crossed the Atlantic in the early 20th century.
Following authentication, the painting was offered at Sotheby’s London and bought for £174,000 by Canadian philanthropist Pierre Lassonde, who loaned it to the Art Gallery of Hamilton for a public exhibition after 110 years.
The gallery’s president, Shelley Falconer, said the return of the painting would inspire visitors and honor Canada’s Impressionist heritage.