Belt Auction

Is a Sir Joshua Reynolds portrait painting valuable?

I recently acquired what I believe is a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds at a local estate auction. It is extremely old in appearance leading me to believe it could be from the 1700's. The people who conducted the auction obviously did no research on any of the items being sold in fact when they were selling this painting they said this appears to be a painting from the 1800's and it's signed, but they certainly weren't sure. It is signed Reynolds on it and bears a striking resemblance to other paintings done by him that I have found on the internet. Does anyone have any insight into what a portrait painting done by him would be worth? I saw one of his paintings sold for 10m+ Pounds but of course im hesitant to get too excited until someone in the know sees it. Here are a couple of pics, one of the painting one closeup of the signature: http://www.615media.com/reynolds.jpg http://www.615media.com/reynolds2.jpg

Public Comments

1. He is very important, so it is vital to get it honestly appraised, even without the provinance.
2. You have GOT to be pulling our collective chain. On the off chance...and, I do mean the off chance... that this outrageous story is true, get yourself in touch with the people at Sotheby's. I'm sure you'll find them in the phone book.
3. Sir it is. Sir, you betcha....
4. Take it to a reputable dealer for an appraisal. The signature looks like it was done with a Sharpie marker, however.