EXPERTS have confirmed a painting of Dedham was the work of Sir Alfred Munnings – and is worth £50,000.

Munnings Art Museum, in Dedham, was visited by TV show Fake of Fortune to help authenticate a painting owned by Charles Henty.

The painting, depicting a landscape and church tower in Dedham, was found to be a genuine Munnings after vigorous testing by a team of experts, including Dr Bill Teatheredge and Jenny Hand at the museum.

Miss Hand, museum director, said: “We were able to look at various elements and compare these to works we have in the museum.

“We found we had several versions of that scene and that bridge over the river, so we were able to compare the signature, the way he painted, the framing and the composition.

“We made an opinion based on this.

“It was good that all the experts agreed, although if they hadn’t it would have been interesting to hear the discrepancies.

“I assume the owner is now going to sell it, but I don’t know.”

Unfortunately, it was not all good news for the painting’s owner, Mr Henty, as another piece, thought to be the work of Sir Winston Churchill, was not believed to be genuine.

This means instead of being worth £200,000, it would only fetch about £200.

Miss Hand said it is the first time the museum had taken part in the programme, which aired on BBC1 on Sunday, but they often have people asking them about the authenticity of paintings.

The museum, which has 658 oil paintings by Munnings, is based in Castle House, the home of Munnings for 40 years until his death in 1959.

He is best known for his paintings of horses, but he also played an important role in capturing English rural life Sadly, most of his works were private commissions and so are not available for public viewing.