A buyer bids €175 on a painting: it was a Dali estimated at €25,000

A little-known Salvador Dali painting, bought for just £150 (around €175) at a Cambridge art house clearance, could fetch up to £30,000 (around €35,000) at auction this autumn, the Guardian has revealed .

Entitled Vecchio Sultano , the work depicts a jeweled sultan and is part of an ambitious project to illustrate the Arabian Nights that Dali had begun in 1966, but which he ultimately abandoned after completing about 100 of the planned 500 drawings. This project, commissioned by his Italian patrons Giuseppe and Mara Albaretto, was never published at the time.

An unexpected discovery

It was during a little-publicized sale, an art house clearance, that John Russell (not his real name), a local antiques dealer, noticed the signature "Dali" in a corner of the painting. Intrigued, he took a chance and won it for £150, with no competitors in the room.

Later, he found an old Sotheby's catalog that specifically mentioned this work. After verification by Nicolas Descharnes, one of the most renowned experts in the Dalí universe, the work was authenticated. Its value is now estimated at between £20,000 and £30,000.

The painting will be auctioned at Cheffins in Cambridge on October 23. A nice profit in prospect for a somewhat crazy gamble.