A worldwide quest for a copy of a portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte has ended in The Lanes in Brighton.

David Rubidge, 48, of Sidley, Bexhill, has been searching since 1969 for a portrait of the Emperor of France that his great uncle 11 times removed, Joseph Rubidge, painted in 1821.

Mr Rubidge's ancestor travelled to St Helena, where Napoleon had been exiled, and painted a portrait of him and made a gypsum and lime death mask two days after he died.

Joseph returned to England, where he became an established artist.

The Queen has four of his paintings, including one of King George III.

Mr Rubidge began an intensive search for the portrait and death mask. He searched the internet and contacted historians to cast light on their whereabouts.

He discovered the portrait was being sold in New York and his cousin, Jeff Rubidge, put up $20,000 to buy it. But he was beaten by a dealer who paid $40,000.

At the time, Mr Rubidge said: "I've put feelers out to try to find who the owner is, but no one will tell me who bought it."

He later discovered Henry Meyer, a famous engraver, had issued 500 copies of the portrait in 1821. The only copy Mr Rubidge could find was in the British Museum, which gave him a black and white photo of it.

He said: "The better the engraver, the closer to the original painting the engraving would be.

"Mr Meyer was a very good engraver and the miracle is that his engraving is not just an engraving, it was coloured by hand."

Mr Rubidge said he was wandering around The Lanes in Brighton earlier this month when he made a startling discovery.

He said: "I was in Brighton one day shopping and I came across this antiquarian print shop in The Lanes. I managed to get hold of the print for only £65."

The shop was The Witch Ball, owned by Gina Daniels, in Meeting House Lane.

Mrs Daniels said: "He came up and asked if I had a print of Napoleon on his death bed by Rubidge. I said that I just happen to have one at the moment.

"He was absolutely ecstatic. We held it for him for a week or two and he collected it. It's because we have a large collection of prints of Napoleon, Wellington and Nelson that we had this print."

He may have his print, but Mr Rubidge is not giving up on the mask, which is kept in a vault at Oxford University.

He said: "When I lost the portrait it was like 30 years of my life going down the drain. Now I've lost that, the only thing I can try to get is the mask."