Owl painting found in attic fetches almost 590,000 pounds

The price has broken the world auction record for the Victorian artist William James Webbe, who painted the picture in 1856.

His works rarely appear on the market and the highest price paid for one until last week was just 72,000 pounds, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

"It was such a shock. We were not imagining that in our wildest dreams," art teacher, Jane Cordery, 66, said of the sale price.

She stumbled across the picture during a clear-out at her home in Basingstoke, Hampshire, helped by her 69-year-old partner, James Ravenscroft, and their three grown-up children.

The battered painting emerged from mounds of clothes, books and toys as the family made space around some pipes for a plumber.

It turned out to be a picture that had been exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1856 when renowned critic of the time John Ruskin admired the softness of the bird's feathers as "perhaps inimitable".

Ravenscroft, who runs a rubber-recycling company, had long ago forgotten receiving the painting as a gift from his mother.

Cordery emailed a photograph of the owl to Christie's, where expert Brandon Lindberg immediately saw its potential and the work was valued at 70,000 pounds.

"I thought the picture had magic but there wasn't anything to support a price stronger than we'd suggested in the estimate. Everyone seemed to fall under its spell," Cordery said.

The painting was bought by an anonymous British dealer.