George Washington artwork hidden in folder for 60 years sold for $226,600

A rare early 19th-century Pennsylvania Dutch folk art drawing showing George Washington and an American eagle with 13 stars has sold at auction for $226,600 (£175,000). The artwork had remained hidden in a plain manila folder for more than six decades. The double-page ink and watercolour fraktur bookplate was made in Pennsylvania in the early 1800s. According to auction details published by Pook & Pook Inc., the piece came from a private collection where it had remained untouched inside a folder for more than 60 years. Bidding at the auction house's salesroom in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, far exceeded the original estimate of $15,000 to $25,000. The artwork eventually sold for $226,600, including the buyer's premium.Rediscovery of a hidden folk art treasureFraktur is a distinctive folk art tradition that Pennsylvania German settlers practised from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century.