The Sundown Express by John Moray-Smith, creator of various art pieces for Norwich pubs, was saved from a skip roughly 30 years ago.
However it wasn’t until Peter Stone, landlord of the Railway Inn just outside Ipswich, in Westerfield discovered its true origin.
Mr Stone has since sent the work off to be restored to its former glory but how the painting, created in 1954, got there is still a mystery.
The 72-year-old, who’s been the pub’s landlord since 2011, said: “It was rescued from a skip during a refurbishment of the pub in 1995.
“The owner at the time literally screwed it into the wall, through the body of the painting, above the pub’s fireplace.
“One day I just happened to walk past it and looked at the name more closely – before Googling it and seeing who it was.
“I did some research and found out he was quite famous around Norwich and Norfolk, where he was commissioned to do work for different pubs.
“Many examples of his work can be still be found and I learned, from the Norwich Society, that this particular piece had been missing for a number of years.
“I’m not entirely sure how it got to this pub.
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“It was originally done for the Men of March pub, near Peterborough, but it could just be someone from the company thought it was better suited for the Railway.
“It’s been so discoloured over the years that I thought it would be good to get it restored.
“So I paid about £600 and it’s getting restored at a gallery in the city, which I think is worth it in order to preserve it.
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“When it’s all cleared up it’ll look nice back in the pub – but without the two gaping holes in it.
“I don’t think I’ll be getting it valued though, just in case it isn’t worth as much as I paid to have it fixed.”
HISTORY OF JOHN MORAY-SMITH
Born on March 3, 1889 in Aberdeenshire John’s family moved to London around 1890.
In the early 1930s John moved to Norwich where for three decades he worked at Morgans’ Brewery.
In 1934 he created the model for the Samson and Hercules figures in Tombland, before creating the St Stephens Gate mural for the Coachmakers Arms in 1937.
In 1939 he created the Prince of Denmark mural and in 1947 the Norwich Panorama was produced for the Cock Inn – before finding a new home at the Maid Head’s Hotel in 2019.
John Moray-Smith died in 1958, four years after creating the Sundown Express for the Men of March pub.
