According to the Huffington Post, a small painting was found in a cupboard in England that is to be valued at 250,000 pounds, that’s 400,000 U.S American dollars. British painter John Constable did the painting. Constable is known for his most famous paintings Dedham Vale painted in 1802, and The Hay Wain in 1821.

The painting, which is about the size of an index card, depicts a 19th century landscape. The painting, found during some house cleaning, was bought a decade ago in the city Canterbury for only 30 pounds. Rob Darvell was given the painting by his father when they were cleaning out a cupboard, Darvell’s father told his son he bought the painting thinking it might be an original due
to the signatures on the back of the painting.

Darvell then enlisted the help of antique expert Curtis Dowling who said, “It’s a fairly standard stock sort of Constable painting. It’s quite interesting in that it’s small, which you don’t see that often. It’s something we’ve never seen before … It’s really actually been quite a lost item.”

The painting’s original owner was Constable’s father-in-law and since then has been passed down among many people according to Dowling and his team of researchers who spent nine months tracing the painting’s origins. When asked about how certain he was this was a Constable painting, Dowling said, “I think it comes to a point where no stone has been left unturned and there are no stones left to turn over.” As of now the painting is tucked safely away in a bank vault until the owner, Darvell, decides what he intends to do with the painting, which will probably go on display in the very near future.

In a final comment, Dowling shared his excitement about the painting and all of the new disocveries this one would probably lead to Dowling said, “What’s great about it is that as we speak there are many, many more sitting in England in people’s cupboards, lofts and in their boxes in the garage.”