When Kirsty Sangster was clearing out her home’s basement in Every St a few months ago, she did not expect to stumble upon a hidden stash of what she believed to be post-World War 1 portraits.
"Somebody’s wanted to celebrate them because the frames are quite big and ornamental," she said.
Before Ms Sangster moved to St Clair earlier this year, she lived in the Art Deco home built in the 1940s in Every St, Andersons Bay.
When the time came to renovate ahead of listing the house for sale, she found the two portraits in the back of the basement, under the house’s crawl space.
"The basement had a wee bit of rubbish left over by the old owners and we were climbing under there to check if all the pipes and such were alright.
"They were shoved right up into the footings of the house sitting on the gravel, either forgotten about or put up there for some other reason."
Initially, she was looking for identifying features that might give her a clue as to who was pictured, but she was only able to spot an illegible photographer’s signature.
She posted her discovery on social media, but so far had no response.
She was hoping if someone knew the people pictured they would let her know so she could give the portraits to the family.
"If I stayed at the Every St house I would have kept them there up on the wall, but this new house, they don’t have a connection to it.
"I really hope someone goes ‘oh I know those people, that’s uncle so and so’."
The discovery was "really exciting" because the only other things she found when renovating were an old, broken scooter and rubbish.
If nobody turned up, she would fit them in with her own family photos and think of them as long-lost great aunts and uncles.
"I hope we find someone that recognises them, or else we have some new family members I guess."
