Trying to identify the artist for this oil paint

I've been doing quite a bit of research for the initial signature for this painting. However, I am still not able to identify who painted it... here are the pics of the painting. Year :1853 initials:J.C

 

Looks like a naive 19th century copy,then again it could be priceless primitive-def an odd subject..Cupid broke his little drum ?
PS-This could be a for our ace Mythos Detective @Bronwen and perhaps @PepperAnna

 

Is this yours?



Debora

 

If there's only one, it's a putto. This one has run his drumstick through the drum heads. Did it happen when he fell? Or did he fall in grief after mischiefing the drum? Not a mythological subject. The realm of the putti is sort of a thing unto itself.

 

Yes. I bought this back in London last year. But i was never be able to identify the painter

 

Welcome Andrew.

I don't think you ever will. While it is a sweet painting, it is not by a trained artist. One of the signs is the way the hand on the right and the foot are painted, that is not up to the standard of listed artists.
It is attractive though, and was probably painted for a private home.
I hope you can enjoy it for what it is.

 

Related to this 1851 print which in turn seems to be based on a sculpture, which I haven't traced yet.
https://www.mediastorehouse.com/uig...oken-drum-simonis-1851-engraving-9714289.html

 

The sculpture "the Unhappy Child" was shown at the 1851 exhibition.
https://digitalcollections.vicu.utoronto.ca/RS/pages/view.php?ref=7130

Louis-Eugène Simonis was the sculptor:
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Zyr2fRzhMc4C&pg=RA1-PA298&dq="unhappy+child"+sculpture+exhibition&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjJxcDLtZGDAxXHS0EAHVgEDjsQ6AF6BAgEEAI#v=onepage&q="unhappy child" sculpture exhibition&f=false

 

Well found you! (And that must have taken some effort.) So not a putto, a child. Agree re amateur effort (which likely means by a gentlewoman with some art training and lots of time on her hands.)

Debora

 

Appreciate with the effort!

 

The piece is a bit edgy in a strange kind of clumsy way,of course it could just be me !?

 

It's the background the artist chose. Adds a layer of meaning that may not have been intentional.

Debora

 

The murky ominous background definitely gives a darker feel-it's not the grinning Gerber baby .

 

No. Ominous is the right word. Without it it would look like a little domestic scene -- the little boy who gets tangled in his bedding, trips and breaks his drum. With it, it looks like an allegory --the putto trapped by damaged love (or some such.)

Debora