I recently acquired this lovely old pen and ink with the prose :- “Just at present I’m asking to god I had a fat little Female to paint - some thing of this sort small in the bond , smooth flesh - all large milky blandness “ It is in an interesting hand made wooden arts and crafts frame It looks like it may be signed bottom right Would love to find out more about it
Thank you for the clearer image I thought it might have been Love , it isn’t easy and also letters lighter up D ?
The altered image is my thought of what I think is going on. Nothing definitive. Great image and frame!
Perhaps "Moore"? The most famous of which is of course Henry Moore. I do think this style is similar to some of the work he did (example the woman on the right of this sketch), and wildy, the "oore" part of the signature really resembles his signature. Like this one. The handwriting style is oddly close too from what I glanced at. But the "M" on this doesn't match any version of his signature I can find, and he was really consistent with the style of that "M" for his entire life. His work is probably the most easily accessible of any artist due to the Henry Moore Institute's amazing diligence. You can see thousands of his drawings in one spot if you want to compare. So, perhaps another Moore? Have you taken it apart to see what might be on the reverse?
That’s interesting , I think this is a 19th century drawing , I’ve been a bit too scared to dismantle it in case it affects its value and possible provenance. Probably wild imaginings on my behalf but it is very like work by Dante Gabriel Rossetti especially the handwriting and the prose
Identity or provenance is more likely to be established with things like notations on the back of the piece. You have no labels or notes on the backing to help, and you can keep the old bits if you like, but art has to occasionally go through maintenance to preserve it in general. If you are concerned you could have a professional framer remove it. That backing is certainly not 19th century, so would not be original to a 19th c piece. It's also backed by what looks like a composite paper/chip board and those are full of acid, so a terrible thing to keep up against a drawing in general. If you want to do removal yourself, you use a blade to cut the tape, and pliers to pull the staples/tacks/nails. I would then advise a pro framer put it back together for you with UV-resistant glass, spacers, acid-free tape around the frame, and acid-free backing to preserve it. It doesn't look like Rosetti's or pre-Raphaelite work to me. Was there an example that you thought was similar?
Very good advice thank you much appreciated , I will remove the backing tomorrow to see if anymore clues ️♀️
His faces are very different to me, but I agree I see what you mean in the hatching of his sketching style. Perhaps "circle of"...
