Antiques Roadshow expert Frances Christie refused to value a WWII painting during Sunday's episode of the popular BBC show.
Frances said: 'This is an incredibly striking portrait of a priest in watercolour and I love how the artist has captured the glint on his glasses. Can you tell us a bit more about the sitter?' The guest explained her connection to the subject of the painting, and said: 'The sitter is my uncle, Father Dan Cummings. And he was a Redemptorist priest.
'And during that period, this was painted by one of the inmates, presumably as part of his recuperation and rehabilitation.' Frances said: 'This is an incredibly striking portrait of a priest in watercolour and I love how the artist has captured the glint on his glasses. Can you tell us a bit more about the sitter?'
'As the deliberation neared its conclusion, Christie explained: 'In this instance, art really is a symbol of two very different people coming together... Ronnie admitting feeling upset seeing the item and declared he would not 'put a price on something that signifies such an awful business'. It isn't the first time an expert has refused to give a valuation, as earlier this month Ronnie Archer-Morgan said he wouldn't give an estimate on an item with links to the slave trade
They then travelled to the Americas and sold enslaved Africans for sugar, tobacco, cotton and other produce. 'This is an amazing object and a testament to the callous trade that went on in the 17th, 18th, and 19th century.' 'It said traders and I thought it meant trading in coffee or spices and then I realised it was trading in people.'
'I mean, this is a document for living proof in a way, the surviving proof that this awful trade went on, and look how beautiful the calligraphy is. The beauty of the calligraphy, it just belies the awfulness of the message.'