A NEW auction house in Wilton is selling a collection of paintings by the master forger Eric Hebborn – who spent nearly 15 years deceiving art experts around the world before being uncovered.

He claims that over 1,000 paintings of his were sold by leading auctioneers and that many of his fakes are still on display at prestigious museums.

Now Webbs of Wilton will celebrate their first ever auction by selling 234 drawings in ink, crayon and watercolours that were salvaged from his house after his mysterious death 18 years ago.

The auctioneer Simon Wingett believes that Hebborn holds a place in art history not only as forger but as an artist in his own right.

He said: “Eric Hebborn is one of the finest art forgers in history but he is also a great artist.

“To be able to deceive the art world for as long as he did is really a tribute to his ability as an artist.

“I think the appreciation of his work has grown since his death and I think that we might be able to break the record for the most expensive Hebborn sold at auction.”

The reason why Hebborn managed to deceive the art world for so long was down to his brilliance at copying the styles of old masters and that he never tried deceive experts by letting them come to their conclusions independently.

He was also meticulous with his details by using paper that was made in the renaissance and ink that he created using natural ingredients.

But crucially he never forged the signatures of the old masters, instead relying on so called experts to fall into the trap of believing that the sketches were the work of a great artist.

Mr Wingett said: “He never really set out to deceive but was led down that path by dealers who wanted to make whatever they could out of him. They were happy to believe the pieces were originals, as were the museums they sold them to.”

The art world would eventually uncover him and ever since they have disputed how many of his works are still masquerading in museums around the world.

His death in 1996 is still one of his biggest mysteries – he was attacked on a Rome street a few years after confessing to his crimes.

Mr Wingett added: “Nobody knows who murdered Eric Hebborn. There were a lot of people that would have liked him to be dead.”

Of the 234 works that are going on sale, the one that Mr Wingett likes the most is one that pokes fun at that the art establishment that he fooled for so long.

“It is a sketch in the style of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot,” He said. “Underneath the painting Hebborn has written; only the experts are worth fooling, the greater the expert, the greater the satisfaction of deceiving them.”

The collection will go on sale at Webbs of Wilton on Wednesday and they can be viewed at the-saleroom.com