$14,000 Jumble

Lady Belper never liked the small painting of Christ in the library of her home, Kingston Hall in Nottinghamshire. When villagers asked her to contribute something to their jumble sale last winter she thought she'd "get rid of it once and for all." She tagged the picture at a few shillings and sent it off. But bargain-hunting villagers didn't give it a second glance. Back it came to its donor.

Last week the villagers had reason to be sorry. The Belper painting, up for sale again, and catalogued as Rubens' The Carrying of the Cross, brought a tidy $14,000 at a London auction.

Lady Belper admitted she hadn't known it was a Rubens. "Of course, my husband knew," she explained. "But he's got so many lovely paintings I can't quite remember what they are."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.