Fake or Fortune

Original version

BBC Two

Knowledge, drama, comedy and the arts for a broad adult audience.

BBC Two is a lively channel of depth and substance, carrying a range of knowledge-building programming complemented by great drama, comedy and arts.

BBC Two Northern Ireland

Fake or Fortune?

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts

Journalist Fiona Bruce and art expert Philip Mould investigate mysteries behind paintings.

Fiona Bruce teams up with expert Philip Mould to investigate mysteries behind intriguing works of art. Are they potentially priceless or crafty copies?

Series 11

BBC One London

London

BBC One West Midlands HD

BBC One Yorkshire

The BBC East region started on 1st May 1959 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One East.

BBC One East

BBC One North West HD

BBC One Oxfordshire

BBC One region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

BBC One East Midlands

BBC One East HD

BBC One Channel Islands

BBC One Yorks & Lincs

The BBC North East & Cumbria region started in 1959 (tbc) as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One North East & Cumbria.

BBC One North East & Cumbria

BBC One Yorkshire HD

Formerly part of a wider BBC One South East region that included London and part of the South region. Separated from BBC One London 2001-09-03 following reorganisation of the South East region.

BBC One South East

BBC One Channel Islands HD

Simulcast of network BBC One in high definition. From 03/11/2010

BBC One HD

The BBC South region started on 5th January 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South.

BBC One South HD

The BBC South West region started on 20th April 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South West.

BBC One South West HD

BBC One Cambridgeshire HD

BBC One Oxfordshire HD

BBC One West Midlands

The BBC West region started on 1st September 1957 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One West.

BBC One West HD

BBC One South West

BBC One West

BBC One Cambridgeshire

BBC One Nightlight

BBC One East Midlands HD

BBC One South East HD

BBC One North East & Cumbria HD

BBC One South

Formerly part of a wider BBC One South East region. Separated as BBC One London 2001-09-03 following reorganisation of the South East region.

BBC One London HD

BBC One North West

BBC One Yorks & Lincs HD

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

Simulcast of BBC Two Wales in high definition

BBC Two Wales HD

BBC Northern Ireland region started on 19th April 1955 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One Northern Ireland.

BBC One Northern Ireland

BBC One Scotland

Scotland

Simulcast of BBC One Scotland in high definition. From 14/01/2013

BBC One Scotland HD

Simulcast of BBC One Northern Ireland in high definition. From 24/10/2012

BBC One Northern Ireland HD

BBC Two England

England

Simulcast of network BBC Two in high definition.

BBC Two HD

Simulcast of BBC Two Northern Ireland in high definition

BBC Two Northern Ireland HD

Fiona Bruce

Philip Mould

Robert Murphy

Matthew Thomas

Kirsty  Brettle

Fake or Fortune?: Series 11: Elisabeth Frink

Elisabeth Frink

BBC One - Fake or Fortune?, Series 11, Elisabeth Frink

Could a sculpture found at a car boot sale in Essex be a work by Dame Elisabeth Frink?

A sculpture found at a car boot sale in Essex bears striking similarities to the work of Elisabeth Frink. Can the team prove it’s part of an edition sculpted by her in the 1950s?

Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould head to the beautiful Essex countryside on the trail of one of the 20th century’s greatest artists, Dame Elisabeth Frink. They are investigating an intriguing sculpture that owner Amanda Kirke discovered at her local car boot sale. Amanda’s initial search on the internet brought up a similar looking figure titled Small Warrior, produced by Elisabeth Frink in an edition of ten in 1956, one of which was once owned by David Bowie.

Amanda has already contacted a gallery that has long dealt in Frink’s work. She is told that without provenance, they cannot authenticate it as a work by Frink. It’s up to our team to come up with the proof. Philip and Fiona meet up with Amanda at her local scrapyard, where she also went looking for clues. Discovering what this sculpture is made of, and whether it’s a material that Elisabeth Frink used, will be a crucial part of the investigation. 

While Fiona sets out to track down an authentic Frink Small Warrior in order to compare it with Amanda’s sculpture, Philip follows the trail back to the original London gallery where Frink’s Small Warrior made his art world debut in 1959. Will the gallery be able to shed any light on how many figures were produced and sold, and where they might be now? 

Having tracked down an authenticated Small Warrior, the team spot worrying differences between it and Amanda’s figure, triggering the search for further authentic figures from the same original edition. Using scientific analysis and the latest laser-scanning technology, together with the expert opinion of a friend and fellow sculptor of Frink’s, will Philip and Fiona’s evidence be enough to convince the authentication committee that Amanda’s figure is genuine?

This proves to be one of the team’s most difficult investigations. As well as the sculpture’s dubious emergence at a car boot sale, they face a provenance that is virtually non-existent. If this is a genuine Frink, it could be worth up to £60,000. But if it’s not, then its scrap metal value is a mere £10! The stakes have never been so high for the team.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Fake or Fortune?

Series 11

Elisabeth Frink

Contributors

Genres

Brand

Series

BBC Two Northern Ireland

About BBC Two