Jasper Carrott artwork accidentally sold in Bewdley charity shop

KEMP Hospice are now appealing for the artwork to be returned

Artist Hilary J Baker with artwork
Author: Phoebe GreggorPublished 27th Jul 2022
Last updated 27th Jul 2022

KEMP Hospice is launching a public appeal to find a piece of art which was accidentally sold in its Bewdley shop on Wednesday, 13th July 2022.

Hilary, whose studio is located near to the shop, was commissioned to create a picture of local celebrity Jasper Carrott. She explained, “The picture is a forensic etching print which required many visits to my Bewdley studio by Jasper, and I used his hair, fingerprints, blood and even spit in my unique forensic etching process. The picture means a great deal to me, and I was devastated to learn it had been mistakenly sold.”

The picture was on loan and displayed in the charity shop as part of the Foundry Artist Art Trail 2022, which included 20 locations across the town taking part in the two-week event. The picture was unfortunately sold by mistake, on the morning of Wednesday 13th July. KEMP is now appealing to the customer to come forward to receive a full refund and help the Hospice to reunite the picture with its rightful owner, Hilary J Baker.

Caroline Beech, CEO of KEMP Hospice said “Our charity shops raise vital funds to help KEMP deliver care across the Wyre Forest, so we always want to support the community that helps to supports us. We were devasted to learn that this genuine and unfortunate mistake had occurred, and everyone across the whole team is very concerned to see Hilary reunited with her picture as soon as possible”

Gary Barnes, Head of Retail at KEMP continued “We have exhausted all avenues of tracking the picture down, which is why we are now appealing for help from our local community. We are genuinely sorry for what has happened. We’ve conducted an internal investigation and are confident that it was an unfortunate human error. We hope that the person who purchased the picture will understand and will get in touch to help us reunite it with Hilary.”

Hilary went on to say, “KEMP’s Bewdley Shop does great work in support of the local community and KEMP Hospice, but the picture does mean a great deal to me so I would very much like to locate it and get it back to the studio.”

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