Featured Antique(?) copy of a Briton Riviere painting

Found this painting in an antique shop, paid £45, it really stood out to me and I thought it looked like Briton Riviere. It turns out it is - a copy of one of his earlier works, 'The Empty Chair' (1869).

So, what I've found out so far:

• There are/were two: one floating around the US under the new name 'Faithful to the Last', and a smaller one (16" x 18") believed to be the original - the last trace I can find of this is an exhibition catalogue from 1924, Cheltenham (UK), which also mentions the other painting in the US.
• There are engravings (or illustrations?) of the original, like here.
• I can see my painting has been patched up at some point, it also has 'The Empty Chair' written in pencil at the top of the frame. There's no signature. It's 12" x 17" (not incl. the frame). There's a number pencilled on the back too, not sure what it is (6409?) or what it relates to.

And, what I'm hoping you can help with:

• How old would you say it is? I notice that it has more detail than Faithful to the Last (i.e. the shields) so I wonder if it was based on the original painting, rather than a later reproduction? Or would they base it on engravings?
• Is it a good reproduction? I can see some wobbly lines and perspective issues, but the dog looks well done to my eye and it's definitely very emotive.
• Any advice on how to care for it would be appreciated!

Happy to provide more details or close ups if needed. I absolutely love it and will be keeping it, just want to find out as much as I can about it! Thank you for your help

 

The frame is 1970s-ish. The numbers on back may relate to an auction sale. The distortion on the left is in the painting and not the result of a loosely-held canvas? It looks like it's been awkwardly trimmed.

Debora

 

Agreed with Deborah, the wobbly lines may be due to the canvas needing a restretch....the previous job is pretty awful. Floor is pretty wacky though. Stretchers look Euro style and old, as does the canvas.

Copyists/forgers absolutely could make copies from widely circulated engravings. And engravings didn't always match paintings they came from. It's an interesting puzzle. The place where the signature is in the etching is beneath the frame in yours.

 

Ah interesting, thank you both! You’re absolutely right, I had a close look and the areas where it warps outwards are where the canvas has been nailed, and in between that it’s pretty loose (looks like there were once nails there that have come out).

So an older painting, reframed in the 70s perhaps? Maybe I should try taking it out the frame and see if there’s anything underneath, is there risk of damaging it by removing the frame though? I’ve not done this before!

 

No, no risk of damage by removal. They didn't even use nails....looks like bent over metal? Or large staples (which is a yikes considering the canvas sticks off the back)? This will need a re-stretch anyway. If you DIY it back in, just pick up some short screws and offsets (only need to screw into the frame and not the stretchers).

 

Thank you, that's really helpful! I'll give it a go