Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Unwanted ‘Charlie Boy’ is actually a 350-yr-old gem
Repair Shop expert stunned by painting
A PAINTING passed down through a family and cheekily dubbed “Charlie Boy” has turned out to be one of the earliest ever portraits of King Charles II.
Liz Vella inherited the artwork from her late grandparents, and remembers it “watching over” her in their dining room as a child.
She said: “The adults used to joke that he was watching us so we had to behave. My sister was quite creeped out by him but I was fascinated.”
She added: “Nobody else wanted him so I said I would have him.”
As her son Dylan, seven, became interested in history, he urged her to apply to have the portrait restored by BBC1’S hit show The Repair Shop.
The programme’s art restorer Lucia Scalisi discovered it was possibly one of the earliest period paintings of the Merry Monarch, who reigned from 1660-1685 – and one of the oldest antiques to ever enter their workshop.
Liz, 32, of Tewkesbury, Glos, said: “We had no idea he was so old. My grandpa thought he was some sort of Victoriana reproduction, so we were totally shocked when we found out he was a period piece.
“We have no idea of his value, although I suppose we should get him appraised for insurance purposes.”
Lucia cleaned the painting, repaired the tears and delicately touched up the work to bring the 350-year-old portrait back to its former glory.
Liz said she and partner Tom Maggs would never sell the “museum-worthy piece” and would instead pass it down to history buff Dylan, who can name every monarch.
Charles II is Dylan’s favourite king, his mum says, because he “loved to
DETAILED party”. She added: “Now Lucia has cleaned him up you can even see the rivets on his coat of armour and all the colours are so bright. We absolutely love him.”
The Repair Shop is on BBC1 tonight at 8pm.