Brian Fox's Patriots painting was on 'Pawn Stars Do America' show. Here's what happened.

FALL RIVER — After a quarter of a century, one of Brian Fox's superb early sports paintings has finally sold.

A gift to his close friend Keith Ellis back in 1998, Fox's painting of a New England Patriots gang tackle fetched $7,000 last July. The transaction was a fairly well-kept secret until last Wednesday when it aired as part of the “Pawn Stars Do America” show on the History Channel.

Ellis, a Freetown general contractor and big-time Patriots fan, died unexpectedly last January at age 55. His widow, Lynn (Medeiros) Ellis subsequently downsized, selling the Freetown home and moving to Fall River where she and Keith had grown up.

Keith had assembled quite the Patriots memorabilia collection, with the Fox original of the gang tackle of former Patriots star running back and then-New York Jet Curtis Martin the crown jewel. The combined efforts of Fox and Ellis got the painting signed by all six of the portrayed Patriot defenders – Ty Law, Tedy Bruschi, Willie McGinest, Henry Thomas, Chris Slade, Ted Johnson.

Lacking the man-cave space the Freetown home offered and with neither of her daughters, both grown, infected with Dad's memorabilia bug, Lynn Ellis decided to explore selling.

“So it was a decision that my daughters made to sell,” she said, “because it was their legacy from their father, not mine.”

Through the friend of a friend of a cousin, who was working on the "Pawn Brokers Do America" show stop in Boston (actually in Dedham), Lynn connected with show representatives to tell them about Keith's entire memorabilia collection, which included signed helmets, jerseys and six other paintings (prints, not originals) by Fox, the Somerset resident and nationally acclaimed sports artist.

“They were only interested in that painting,” Lynn said.

Once she considered selling the Fox original, Lynn said, she consulted with Fox himself. He helped her connect with other collectors of his paintings, but no deals were struck. Fox hypothesized that the painting could be sold for as high as $25,000 if – a big-big if – the one right buyer were found.

How does 'Pawn Stars' and 'Pawn Stars Do America' work?

For "Pawn Stars Do America" – a spinoff of the popular Las Vegas-based “Pawn Stars” – sellers are required to notify the show of a firm, pre-negotiation asking price. Fox suggested she go in at $10,000.

Lynn said the aired negotiations between host Corey Harrison and herself were authentic. Impressed with the painting, Harrison, before negotiations started, brought out his art expert, referred to as Dr. Lori, and she agreed with Fox's assessment, saying the painting could fetch as much as $25,000 at auction. She said the six autographs, which at one time would have boosted the painting's value significantly, no longer have much impact because of Fox's popularity and reputation.

Harrison offered $6,000. Lynn countered with $8,000. Harrison came back with $6,500 and next agreed when Lynn asked if he could do the $7,000.

What happens after 'Pawn Stars' buys a collectible?

Defending the discrepancy between Dr. Lori's estimated auction price of $25,000 and his opening bid of $6,000, Harrison said, “I have to get this back to Vegas and put it in an auction and it could just be a bad auction day.”

Lynn said she received her $7,000 check about a week later. She also said that there was no guarantee at the time of videoing that her segment would make the final cut to be aired on History. Told the Boston episode would air sometime between January and May in 2024, she was surprised when, on Wednesday of last week, she started hearing from friends who had just seen her on the show. She had to catch a replay.

“I had pretty much forgotten about this,” she said.

Lynn said her husband would have loved her being on the show. On their first trip to Las Vegas, she said, they visited the Harrisons' famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop. “He was a fan of that show,” she said.

Keith Ellis built Fox's home on Mount Hope Bay and the two played slowpitch softball together. Fox said he isn't sad that the painting was sold, noting that selling paintings can be a big part of art collecting. He said he's happy that one of the first of his many Patriots' paintings helped the Ellis' financially.

Years ago, Fox said, he used to trade drawings, on backs of place settings, for boneless buffalo wings and pizza at T.K. O'Malley's in the North End, where, during football season, there was a weekly Pats' radio show on 790 AM “The Score” hosted by Scott Cordishi and featuring Patriots players. Those were the days when Fox had more lint than cash in his jean pockets.

“I'd either trade with the waitresses or the waiters or the bartenders,” he said. “Or even friends would come in and say, hey look, you give me a drawing and I'll pay for your food. It was great. And a lot of those people who bought me the food I'm still friends with.”

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Patriots painting by artist Brian Fox fetches a good price for owner