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I found a painting at a dump – it just sold for £26,500

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WORDS BYLINE: MARK WORGAN Mat Winter, 24, was 11 years old when he came across a find that would change his life more than a decade later - a spectacular engraving by one of the Renaissance???s most revered artists. One which has now sold for ??26,500. As a childhood hobby, Mat created his own ???antique shop??? in his aunt???s garden shed. While looking for trinkets he could use as stock he visited his local tip in Cranbrook, Kent to seek out interesting finds others had overlooked. There a woman gave him a mysterious engraving featuring an armoured knight on a horse, accompanied by his dog, riding past a goat-headed devil and the figure of death. Mat explains: ???Aged 11 at the local tip there were about six or seven cars, then this lady opened her car boot up and she had bits of rubbish in it. I saw the picture and I said, ???Can I have it???? She said, ???Of course. You???re welcome to it.??? I thought I could be the person to save it. I???ve always liked old stuff. ???It looked so interesting to me. So I took it back to my shed where I had a little antiques shop with some other items in there,??? he continues. ???I kept it all those years, all the time I???ve looked after it How it is now is how I got it. The day I got it I put it up on my shed wall. It was the main item I always thought was special in my shed.??? After more than a decade, Mat, who still lives nearby in Cranbrook, had a clearout of some of his prized keepsakes, but decided to take his collection???s centrepiece to art expert Jim Spencer, Director of Rare Book Auctions in Lichfield. ???All them years I had it and it was just sitting there in my shed,??? he remembers. ???The shed???s now gone and the things are in the container - which is why I got rid of a lot. Some stuff I???ve got rid of as it was taking up too much space - but that always stuck with me as I thought it was something special.??? Jim was astonished by what he saw - an original version of Knight, Death and the Devil, a 500-year-old engraving by Albrecht D??rer. D??rer was a painter and printmaker who was a contemporary of Raphael and Leonardo Da Vinci and is regarded as one of the most gifted artists of all time. Mat said he took it to Jim to ???see if it was as special as I thought it was??? and now his faith has been rewarded - as the engraving ultimately sold at auction for ??26,500 at auction on Wednesday. Mat, who is currently not in work, sat watching the online auction of the artwork full of excitement - as the bidding on his incredible find ticked up past ??10,000 and eventually up to ??26,500 when the hammer came down. He is blown away by the end result. ???It???s amazing,??? the unexpected art aficionado, who was completely unaware of his find???s significance for all the time it sat in his shed, explains. ???I???m over the moon. It???s all a gift. I???m a bit in shock. I???m just overwhelmed with it all.??? As for what he plans to spend the money on - he will have a bit of a celebration, but his main aim is to get a smart set of wheels. ???It will go towards a car, my favourite dream car would probably be a Rolls-Royce,??? he reveals - though he may set his sights on a more practical getaround. The remarkable find was also a delight to art expert Jim, who was taken aback by what he saw when Mat brought the D??rer in. Describing the moment he laid eyes on the artwork, he gushes: ???I opened the package, removed the bubble wrap, and staggered back in awe. My hands were shaking as I held it up to the light. ???The laid paper was absolutely right for the period. The quality of the engraving was exceptional beyond words. I knew that only one person could've produced something like this - it had to be the hand of D??rer himself. "I shouted over to my brother - and colleague - Matty. He came over and agreed with me instantly, it was simply too good to have been engraved by anyone else.??? Jim then took the print to the British Museum where with assistance from experts, they checked it in fine detail and it was authenticated the real thing! The expert and auctioneer says it is ???the most important print??? he???s ever offered for sale - and if it had not been pasted on to a mount around 100 years ago, the print may have sold for as much as ??200,000. Despite his remarkable find, Mat has no plans to use the keen eye he demonstrated as a child to set himself up as an art collector. ???I???m not going to become an art expert,??? he adds. ???Much as I???d love to I haven???t got the room for it.??? He says he is still just too ???in shock??? by such a lifechanging moment to consider the future - but regards his good fortune as a ???gift???. One he???ll treasure forever - especially when he???s driving his new car. Where: Cranbrook, Kent, United Kingdom When: 10 Sep 2024 Credit: Rare Book Auctions/Cover Images **All usages and enquiries, please contact info@cover-images.com - +44 (0)20 3397 3000EDITORIAL USE ONLY. MATERIALS ONLY TO BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH EDITORIAL STORY. THE USE OF THESE MATERIALS FOR ADVERTISING, MARKETING OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL PURPOSE IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. MATERIAL COPYRIGHT REMAINS WITH STATED SUPPLIER.**

Ever since I was 10 years old, I’ve had an eye for antiques (Picture: Rare Book Auctions/Cover Images)

Logging in to the online auction, I waited patiently for the bids on my painting to start rolling in.

Slowly the numbers began creeping up: £1,000, £5,000, even ticking past the £10,000 mark, until finally, the virtual hammer came crashing down.

My painting sold for £26,500.

Hard to believe that something I found at…

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