Posted 9 years ago
fahnaobscura
(2 items)
This is appears to be a very small scale landscape originally painted in France. It has an antique, very small frame with the glass intact. The frame looks like gold painted wood. There are 10 metal teeth holding the piece in place which are heavily rusted given the age. I think that is a red ribbon pull which is really fragile at this point.
Frame Dimensions:
Length - approx. 4 in
Height - approx 3 in
Painting itself:
Length - approx. 3 in
Height - approx. 2 in (small scale!)
The painting looks like a pink flowering tree in the foreground, maybe a dogwood or cherry blossom in the spring. There's more grass painted in the background separated by a dirt road or path.
To me it looks like paper adhered to a tiny canvas serving as a matte, which was then framed and sealed with paper. You can clearly see a signature on the back which I don't recognize or it wouldn't be an unsolved mystery!
I looked at it under my magnifying glass and it has disernable brush strokes and some of the paint has a slight sheen to it. It doesn't have the small dots pattern that a lithograph would have. I guess it's possible it could be paint over a lithograph.
The frame appears to have had a paper backing. What was left of it read "Made in France" and it had a shop name based in the US. In the picture you can still see what's remaining of the shop's stamp in the bottom left corner. Unfortunately there isn't enough paper left to retrieve the full name. I believe it said something about a "shop of curiosities", maybe in NY City.
I guess it could be a tiny painting someone would buy as a gift or souvenir, a mass produced antique?... one can't be too sure. Help! :)
