"silk framed bird painting, maybe old" (CRINGE)

My friends,

I come to you humbly on behalf of an old and dear buddy. She bought this "silk framed bird painting, maybe old" for $36 at a flea market. I am the BIRD ART expert, in the minds of my friends and family, so she turns to me for information. She's excited about her find.

Those of you who know me --- know I am moderately learned in natural history prints, yes, especially birds... but... this sort of... "silk framed bird painting, maybe old"... well, not so much. That was the entire description she was told. The pictures are from her, so they're all I have.

Please: thoughts?

I'd like to help her enjoy her acquisition. Reckless optimism is welcome!

 

I think it's charming and a good buy. I don't know any details. My guess would be Japanese. It looks very nicely done to me and more complex than what's usually out there.

 

Thank you, MOS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Appreciated!

 

Seems to be an American species of bluebird...
Hmmm.

 

I agree, Gila, it looks lovely and at least from what the photos show, appears to be well done.

 

I like it too = very much! But I wonder if the way it is positioned in the mat is concealing the lower part and causing too much of the blank top to be shown. Does any one else feel that way?

 

THANK YOU!
*digesting*

 

I think fairly nice but without too much age. I doubt any earlier than the 60s and maybe even as much as 3 decades later. Of course some people's definition of old is different than many of us here. While someone might be able to purchase similar for less, in the greater scheme of things it was a pretty good buy. She couldn't even get it framed for what she paid.

 

First Id gently take it out of the frame and give that glass a good clean . Youd be surprised at how dirty the inside of " sealed " frames can get . Ive had art look 10 shades brighter . I agree its more 60s or later , though these have been popular ( and produced ) a long ,long time . I had 3 or 4 of these at one time ,but I got lazy and donated instead of reframing them .

 

The warping at the top , may have been worse at the bottom.....or it could be hiding other damage...or have been trimmed.

 

Thank you, EVERYBODY! I appreciate your input so much. In have some interesting and intriguing stuff to pass along to her. I know she'll be pleased and proud, and maybe encouraged to take it out of the frame and inspect/clean it! You folks are the best!
xoGila

 

I think it is pretty, but don't have any information to add.

 

Thanks, Fig.

 

Thanks to you ALL for your feedback. I relayed it all to her today, and together we both took a closer look at her piece. Here are some close-ups showing the sad truth about the "matt". It looks as if some kind of cloth trim has been glued down in strips (overlapping at the corners) as the "matt". So the desirable re-positioning of the piece (as suggested by several, and I would support that) would require trimming and complete re-framing. She's happy with her purchase as is, and proud that people here thought it was pretty, but I just have to wonder... why would anybody use glued strips like this? There's no good reason, right? Except just an interest in making a viable decorative piece...? Weird!

 

This is typical of Asian silk paintings. It was probably originally purchased this way.

 

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...

Well, wow.
Thanks!

 

It does seem odd that the bottom of the image is cut off while the top has a lot of "white" space. But it's still lovely.

 

Thanks, Pat. Maybe Asian ideas of matting are different? I don't think so. I think there's a story behind trimming it that way... maybe just damage to the bottom and clumsy positioning.

 

I'm going to guess that the mat and frame size were pre-set... maybe many created for multiple pieces.

So either the bottom was damaged and they used it anyway in the standard size frame... or... someone goofed and attached the mat in the wrong place and they didn't want to throw it out.

 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... that would explain it... a factory painting of its genre, but PRETTY!