WHEN Captain David Perkin was rummaging through a toolbox left to him by his late grandfather, he was surprised to find a number of valuable, decorated tin lids.

A closer inspection of these contents revealed the hand behind the work to be that of Alfred Wallis – the famed fisherman turned artist.

Some of the lids were even signed and were a gift from Wallis to Emma Richard Perkin, David's mother.

Now, one of these items has been put up for auction by David to raise money for our St Julia's Hospice – Build The Vision Appeal.

The piece will go under the hammer on October 21 at Lay's Auction House in Penzance with the proceeds going towards the extension work and improving outpatients' facilities at the Hayle hospice.

A view of Smeaton's Pier in St Ives, including the lookout and lighthouse, is captured on the tin lid.

But to prove their worth they needed to document their provenance – a story told by Captain Perkin.

He said: "I was born in St Ives and lost my mother when I was very young. My life went topsy-turvy for a time after that."

He was sent to live with an aunt, a year later his grandmother died, and when he turned 15, his aunt asked him to leave.

"I went to Falmouth to the nautical college there and studied navigation," the 65-year-old told The Cornishman. "I was there for a year and then went to sea."

He passed his second mate's ticket when he was 16 and soon after married his first wife. The next summer he returned to St Ives to run a boat.

A toolbox owned by his mariner grandfather, who had recently died, was given to him, but due to circumstances he decided to store it at another relative's home, unaware of its valuable contents.

He said: "I never really touched the box because it was all I had of my family, until about four years ago."

By this time his relative had grown old and called to ask him to collect his things. When Captain Perkin went through the toolbox he found it contained all sorts of items.

"I emptied the chest out and found all these things in there that I couldn't remember, including these works which were signed to my mother. They must have known Wallis," he said.

So he began tracing those involved, his family and the artist, finding out that they would probably have known each other from living in St Ives' Downlong area.

Captain Perkin contacted an expert on Wallis, Robert Jones who helped with getting the pieces back to their former glory.

"Robert told me Wallis would paint on anything – cigarette papers and bits of board, scraps and tin lids, as he couldn't always afford canvas."

Mr Jones said: "This is a delightful little painting and, having looked into its provenance at a time when it is very unusual to find new work by this artist, I have no doubt that this is a genuine piece by Alfred Wallis."