Antique oil painting

Nov 16, 2023
10
4
Recently acquired two oil paintings at auction with their provenance being Chesapeake Bay Maryland. My first thought was kinda looks like Alexander Hamilton and after some research I saw that there are many similarities, the nose right down to the bump on the upper part, eye color, reddish brown eyebrows and hair, same receding hairline as well as the clothing of the time. The craquelure is consistent throughout the paintings with some areas a bit heavier than others. Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton features, hair color and eyes are also similar. I know itā€™s a reach but just going with my hunch. I would appreciate any help in dating these two pieces as Iā€™m stumped as to what kind panel was used here, appears to be a wood panel with a thin canvas attached or maybe multiple pieces of parchment stacked, just donā€™t know, I would appreciate any help with this. Frame 24.5ā€ X 27.75ā€ paintings 19.5ā€ X 23ā€ Thanks!
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Last edited:

Tpmetal

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Hi, The back appears to be masonite, which is a 20th century innovation. That might be a clue to the age of the paintings
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonite#:~:text=In 1898, a product resembling,mass production of its product.
Good eye, unfortunately the backs on old paintings get replaced often as the origional wood ones often warped. Best way to date would be by the clothing styles depicted(assuming it is a portrait and not some artists recreation). I am no where even close to an expert, but my wild guess sometime in the later half of 1800s.
 

Red-Coat

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Welcome to Tnet.

Those are very nice. I canā€™t help on the subjects, and I assume there are no discernible signatures, but I would put the clothing as mid-19th Century (c. 1850 plus or minus a bit). I would also guess that these were painted ā€˜from lifeā€™ and so the clothing date is also the date for the portraits being painted.

The panel looks to me like ā€œmillboardā€, which is a generic for various kinds of heavy duty laminated cardboard formed by pasting sheets of ā€˜paperā€™ together and pressure bonding them. The constituent materials were mill and paper waste, with higher quality boards using rag and linen fibres. They were designed as cheaper and lighter alternatives to wooden panels or stretchered canvas for artist use and came in three thicknesses. They first appear in artistsā€™ trade catalogues in England around 1819, although they were developed in the late 18th Century. By the mid-1800s they were being widely imported to America from both England and France and also home-produced in America but generally with a lower quality. There was a parallel product known as ā€œAcademy boardā€, available in much larger sizes.

The back surface of these boards is usually stippled, and commonly has a coating of grey protective primer applied to stabilise it, which is consistent with what I see for your board. The painting surface can be smooth or stippled and was usually also primed ready for painting, but not in grey.
 

Last edited:

vpnavy

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Recently acquired two oil paintings at auction with their provenance being Chesapeake Bay Maryland. My first thought was kinda looks like Alexander Hamilton...
tn_moved_over.gif
I moved ya from NEW MEMBER INTRODUCTIONS over to ART, PAINTINGS for more exposure.

tn_notice.gif
NOTE: Forum NEW MEMBER INSTRODUCTIONS Description: New to TreasureNet? Introduce yourself to our community here! Welcome aboard and Happy Hunting!
 

OP
OP
E
Nov 16, 2023
10
4
Recently acquired two oil paintings at auction with their provenance being Chesapeake Bay Maryland. My first thought was kinda looks like Alexander Hamilton and after some research I saw that there are many similarities, the nose right down to the bump on the upper part, eye color, reddish brown eyebrows and hair, same receding hairline as well as the clothing of the time. The craquelure is consistent throughout the paintings with some areas a bit heavier than others. Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton features, hair color and eyes are also similar. I know itā€™s a reach but just going with my hunch. I would appreciate any help in dating these two pieces as Iā€™m stumped as to what kind panel was used here, appears to be a wood panel with a thin canvas attached or maybe multiple pieces of parchment stacked, just donā€™t know, I would appreciate any help with this. Frame 24.5ā€ X 27.75ā€ paintings 19.5ā€ X 23ā€ Thanks! View attachment 2115458 View attachment 2115460 View attachment 2115462 View attachment 2115463 View attachment 2115464 View attachment 2115465 View attachment 2115459 View attachment 2115468
Thanks
 

OP
OP
E
Nov 16, 2023
10
4
Welcome to Tnet.

Those are very nice. I canā€™t help on the subjects, and I assume there are no discernible signatures, but I would put the clothing as mid-19th Century (c. 1850 plus or minus a bit). I would also guess that these were painted ā€˜from lifeā€™ and so the clothing date is also the date for the portraits being painted.

The panel looks to me like ā€œmillboardā€, which is a generic for various kinds of heavy duty laminated cardboard formed by pasting sheets of ā€˜paperā€™ together and pressure bonding them. The constituent materials were mill and paper waste, with higher quality boards using rag and linen fibres. They were designed as cheaper and lighter alternatives to wooden panels or stretchered canvas for artist use and came in three thicknesses. They first appear in artistsā€™ trade catalogues in England around 1819, although they were developed in the late 18th Century. By the mid-1800s they were being widely imported to America from both England and France and also home-produced in America but generally with a lower quality. There was a parallel product known as ā€œAcademy boardā€, available in much larger sizes.

The back surface of these boards is usually stippled, and commonly has a coating of grey protective primer applied to stabilise it, which is consistent with what I see for your board. The painting surface can be smooth or stippled and was usually also primed ready for painting, but not in grey.
Thank you, itā€™s much appreciated.
 

OP
OP
E
Nov 16, 2023
10
4
Welcome to Tnet.

Those are very nice. I canā€™t help on the subjects, and I assume there are no discernible signatures, but I would put the clothing as mid-19th Century (c. 1850 plus or minus a bit). I would also guess that these were painted ā€˜from lifeā€™ and so the clothing date is also the date for the portraits being painted.

The panel looks to me like ā€œmillboardā€, which is a generic for various kinds of heavy duty laminated cardboard formed by pasting sheets of ā€˜paperā€™ together and pressure bonding them. The constituent materials were mill and paper waste, with higher quality boards using rag and linen fibres. They were designed as cheaper and lighter alternatives to wooden panels or stretchered canvas for artist use and came in three thicknesses. They first appear in artistsā€™ trade catalogues in England around 1819, although they were developed in the late 18th Century. By the mid-1800s they were being widely imported to America from both England and France and also home-produced in America but generally with a lower quality. There was a parallel product known as ā€œAcademy boardā€, available in much larger sizes.

The back surface of these boards is usually stippled, and commonly has a coating of grey protective primer applied to stabilise it, which is consistent with what I see for your board. The painting surface can be smooth or stippled and was usually also primed ready for painting, but not in grey.
Thanks!
 

OP
OP
E
Nov 16, 2023
10
4
Welcome to Tnet.

Those are very nice. I canā€™t help on the subjects, and I assume there are no discernible signatures, but I would put the clothing as mid-19th Century (c. 1850 plus or minus a bit). I would also guess that these were painted ā€˜from lifeā€™ and so the clothing date is also the date for the portraits being painted.

The panel looks to me like ā€œmillboardā€, which is a generic for various kinds of heavy duty laminated cardboard formed by pasting sheets of ā€˜paperā€™ together and pressure bonding them. The constituent materials were mill and paper waste, with higher quality boards using rag and linen fibres. They were designed as cheaper and lighter alternatives to wooden panels or stretchered canvas for artist use and came in three thicknesses. They first appear in artistsā€™ trade catalogues in England around 1819, although they were developed in the late 18th Century. By the mid-1800s they were being widely imported to America from both England and France and also home-produced in America but generally with a lower quality. There was a parallel product known as ā€œAcademy boardā€, available in much larger sizes.

The back surface of these boards is usually stippled, and commonly has a coating of grey protective primer applied to stabilise it, which is consistent with what I see for your board. The painting surface can be smooth or stippled and was usually also primed ready for painting, but not in grey.
Thanks
 

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