What looked like two unwanted paintings in a skip turned out to be worth thousands of pounds. A couple came across the two cat paintings while walking their dog and decided to rescue them rather than leave them behind. They took the works home, eventually gave them to their daughter-in-law and later hung them on their own walls, unaware of who had painted them. Years later, curiosity led them to investigate the pictures, and they discovered a connection to Louis Wain, the British artist renowned for his distinctive cat paintings. According to Rogers Jones Auctioneers, the paintings had been rescued from a skip and were recognised as genuine works by Wain by auctioneer and valuer Charles Hampshire.
A lucky find during a dog walk
The paintings were not discovered in an antique shop or at a specialist art fair. They were sitting in a skip in Pembrokeshire. The couple spotted the two cat paintings while out walking their dog several years ago. Something about them caught their attention, so they decided to take them home. At first, there was no thought that they might be valuable. The couple reportedly thought one of the paintings could make a good gift for their daughter-in-law, who was fond of cats.The paintings were given to her and stayed in her home for about a year. She later returned them to the couple, who put them up in their own house. There they remained for several years. It was only much later that the pair began wondering about the artist behind the paintings.
The Louis Wain connection
When the couple started researching the works, they came across the name Louis Wain. That discovery changed the story completely. Wain became famous in Britain for his unusual depictions of cats. His animals were often shown standing upright, dressed in human clothing or behaving like people. His illustrations appeared widely in newspapers, books and magazines, helping make his distinctive cat characters familiar to generations of people.The couple took their paintings to Rogers Jones Auctioneers, where their significance could be properly assessed. Charles Hampshire, an auctioneer and valuer at the firm, recognised the works as genuine paintings by Wain.
The works were sold at Rogers Jones’ British & European Fine Art auction on May 21, 2026 (Image Credit: Rogers Jones Auctioneers)
Two original paintings
According to Rogers Jones Auctioneers, the first work was ‘Blue Cat among the Flowers’, a bodycolour painting. It was entered as Lot 43 in Rogers Jones’ British & European Fine Art auction, with an estimate of £3,000 to £5,000. The second was a more unusual double-sided work titled ‘Psychedelic Cats’ & ‘Deer in an Idyllic Landscape’. It featured bodycolour and watercolour and was entered as Lot 44. Its estimate was £4,000 to £6,000. That put the combined estimate for the two paintings at between £7,000 and £11,000. But the auction results went beyond those expectations.
Both paintings beat their estimates
The works were sold at Rogers Jones’ British & European Fine Art auction on May 21, 2026. ‘Blue Cat among the Flowers’ eventually sold for £6,600. The double-sided painting performed even better. ‘Psychedelic Cats’ & ‘Deer in an Idyllic Landscape’ reached £9,400. Together, the two paintings brought £16,000. The result also made them two of the auction house’s notable sales for May. The double-sided Wain work ranked third among the firm’s top 10 lots for the month, while ‘Blue Cat among the Flowers’ came seventh.
Why Wain’s cats became so famous
Wain’s appeal came from his unusual way of portraying cats. He gave them human-like expressions, poses and personalities, turning ordinary domestic animals into characters that seemed to have their own little worlds. His work became closely associated with cats in popular British culture, and his reputation has remained strong long after his death.Interest in his life and work has also continued in recent years, including through the 2021 film The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy. That history gave the two paintings found in the skip a significance their owners could not have known when they first picked them up.
A skip-side discovery worth £16,000
The couple’s find is a reminder of how easily valuable artwork can be overlooked. When they first saw the paintings, they were simply discarded objects sitting in a skip. They rescued them because the paintings caught their attention, not because they knew they were by a well-known artist.For years, the works remained in their home without attracting much attention. Only later did research reveal their true identity. After authentication and auction, the two paintings went from being unwanted objects to £16,000 worth of Louis Wain artwork. It was an ordinary dog walk that led to the discovery, but the couple ended up taking home two original works by one of Britain’s best-known artists of cats.