Renoir purchased at flea market for $50

The painting was bought for less than $50

A painting bought at a flea market in the US may turn out to be a rare bargain - a work by French master Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

It was bought by a woman as part of a box lot that included a doll and a plastic cow, and cost about $50 (£31).

She took it to a Virginia auction house where experts said they believed it was Renoir's Paysage Bords de Seine - a river scene - from about 1879.

The auctioneers expect it to sell for up to $100,000 later this month.

It is believed the painting was bought from a Paris gallery in 1926.

A Renoir plaque on the frame prompted the woman to have it analysed by a local auction house.