The picture was found at a charity shop in Carlton, near Bedford

The small image of "a beggar man and a beggar woman conversing" was being stored with items thought to be worthless in the Emmaus homeless charity shop in Carlton, near Bedford.

But Sarah Flynn, a paintings valuer at Cheffins auctioneers of Cambridge, found the etching, which measures just 8 cm by 7 cm (3.14 in by 2.75 in) when visiting the shop in September.

The piece fetched �7,130 including buyer's premium when it was sold at auction by Cheffins on behalf of the charity on Thursday.

Mrs Flynn said she was delighted to have helped raise so much money for Emmaus, with the etching selling for many times the estimated price.

Staff at the charity were also said to be "thrilled" at the sale.

Mrs Flynn said: "I'm very pleased - I'm pleased for us here in Cambridge and for Emmaus too.

Private collector

"For a little thing it seems to have caught the public's imagination - a charity shop find."

The sale room was packed and the bidding fierce, with plenty of interest from potential buyers over the phone, she said.

The etching was finally sold to a private collector from Yorkshire, who was thought to be a keen supporter of Emmaus.

Mrs Flynn added: "In a normal world, it would be worth around �800 to �1,000 and we were hoping that it might top the �2,000 mark, but we had three or four people who were all determined to have a jolly good go at getting it.

"It was quite nerve-wracking."

Mrs Flynn said she found the etching in a box of items "to be discarded" when visiting the shop looking for objects that could be auctioned for the charity.

The Dutch master, who lived from 1606 to 1669, cut the design into the copper plate in 1630 and this image from the original plate was made some time after his death.