Lost Salvador Dali painting bought for £150 sold at auction for £45,700 | Salvador Dali

To the untrained eye, it looks more like an alien has landed on Chewbacca’s head than a Salvador Dali masterpiece.

But the watercolor and painting – bought two years ago for £150 – have been sold at auction for £45,700, after being identified as a lost illustration of ‘The Old Sultan’ by the great Surrealist artist.

The piece was found at a house sale in Cambridge two years ago by local antiques and art dealer, John Russell*. During a garage sale in London, he discovered Dalí’s signature in the lower right corner of the picture and stickers from Sotheby’s on the back.

He thought the painting might be a fake, but decided to bid for it “in a heartbeat.” Only one person bid against him, and he withdrew when Russell offered £150. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime feeling,” he told The Guardian.

On Friday, the painting was sold to an outside buyer by Cheffins auction house in Cambridge, which authenticated the work as a lost scene from a series of 500 One Thousand and One Nights paintings that Dalí intended to paint in 1966.

“It’s not to everyone’s taste,” said Brett Trainer, director of Chevens Auctions. “It’s definitely a Marmite painting. But some people just like it – that’s art.”

He said there had been an “incredible” amount of interest in the sale, adding: “Original Dali works don’t come around very often.”

Russell, who spent more than £4,000 documenting the painting and researching its provenance, said he felt “happy” when the hammer fell. “It was amazing,” he said.

“I was so happy after all the uncertainty and doubt in the beginning about whether it was real or not, and the whole journey over the last two years…has been extraordinary.”

*John Russell’s name has been changed to protect the identity of the buyer.