Featured Oil on board with interesting back

Has anyone ever seen a back of a painting with these type of bars going across? I am assuming the bars were added later to help with stabilization? Someone must have really liked this work to have applied the bars. There is a lot of craquelure and under blacklight, looks like some varnish added. I am assuming this 19th century Continental. The nails are recent to hold the back on. Backside of board measures approx. 13.32 x 18.75 in. Would any of you remove those nails? I really want to but do not want to compromise the piece. Does anyone have any thoughts?
Thank you for looking!

 

I wonder whether the artist intended to paint another scene on the back and primed it in preparation.

 

Oh, now I see the 2 images of white/grey paint are the cloudy sky of the front! Forget my primer thoughts.

 

Such "cradles" have been used on older panel paintings (painted on a solid wooden panel) to try to prevent warping. Scroll down to "Cradles and constrained panels" on this website for a nice discussion:
https://fineart-restoration.co.uk/news/protecting-paintings-on-panel-reducing-risks-and-repairs/

 

I think it's a stunning/beautiful painting!! The frame, at least on the front, is a lot worse for wear though!!​

 

@laura9797, Did you find a signature on it anywhere??​

 

I like it a lot. I liked it better when I thought there a cow in place of the people though.

 

Laura, are you sure that the back you see isn't just a supporting backer board? If this painting is post 1850's I bet the actual artist's millboard may be under the backer. See section 2.3.2:

https://cool.culturalheritage.org/jaic/articles/jaic38-01-003.html

Since this is a relatively small painting it would have been much easier for a late Victorian artist to buy a prepared millboard or academy board than to build something custom. Millboard thickness and composition varied so the actual millboard may be relatively thin.

 

Charming painting, Laura, and good quality.

"Itinerant Cow Looking for Employment at the Manor House".

 

I will remove the nails on Monday. Thank you so much for the information! I'll update as soon as I see what is going on under the cradle. No signatures found as of yet!

 

Suggest checking the back carefully for signatures. A couple of my "no signature" paintings were actually signed in pencil on verso. Darkened wood or grime may obscure a signature.

 

It's a very charming work. Lovely light.

Debora

 

Ahahahaha. Have milk, will work.

 

I am curious to see what the painting is painted on. The back of the frame does not look that old to me, first half of the 20th century. The wood looks like it has been worked with modern tools and techniques.

 

The back is definitely not old but I believe added later to stabilize. Someone thought highly of it to protect it.

 

Ok....so I removed the back and it is all together now one piece. You can see where the wood matt ended. I am not sure what to make of this.

 

Do you have a picture? I don't see anything attached. The painting could have been glued to the backer?

 

Sorry about that! My pictures never loaded due to their size!

 

the wear around the edges is from the wood frame molding

 

It looks like the cradle is adhered to the panel, at least at the ends of the cross bars, and there is no additional layer of anything between the cradle and the panel. Combined with the fact that the wood of the cradle and the back of the panel appear similar in color/age, this would suggest the assembly was created by the artist (or his supplier), and that the cradle is not a later addition. The back of the panel is surprisingly clean. I wonder if it was previously framed with a protective backing board. You noted that the nails holding it in the current frame appeared recent.