Old 1800's Watercolor

Bought this today. It was framed with wood on back so I took out the nails and took off the wood. Behind the wood was some old 1896 paper, and the matte was stamped 1895. Too bad there is no sig. Can I assume this is from the late 1800's?

 

Hmmmm ...... I would expect to see some mat burn if it were that old.

 

You mean like this?

 

"Can I assume this is from the late 1800's?"

You can assume if you like but you can't prove it. Patent date on the mat is only that, meaning the mat could have been made at any date after that. Newspaper was certainly printed on the date shown on it but could have been put in the frame at any date up until the day before you bought it. The shadow of the painting on the mat does show some age. Impressionist watercolor? I know nothing about paintings.

 

I mean on the front. This is a rather extreme example but you almost always see some degree of mat burn on the front of works on paper that have been under the edge of a mat for a long time.



Here is a less extreme example .......

 

I can go look again. Luckily it wasn't taped down or anything

 

Did you save the nails? If so are they squared?

 

No the nails were not square.

 

Thank you kraftblue

 

Verybrad, looked again at this...you can see some yellowed lines where it was in the matte. I don't know how to add an arrow to my pics..

 

I must agree with brad. The watercolor does not appear to be 19th c., closer to mid 20th.

 

That's pretty rare for the paper to be that much older than the painting. Not disagreeing with Alec and brad at all, because I agree it does look 20th century. But still, it's odd that the paper and painting are so far apart in terms of timelines.

 

Freddie Forensic sez: One question we want to answer even if some don't think is the bottom line is "About when was this painting put in that frame?"

OP's 2nd post, 2nd pic shows partially a little metal hanging fixture on the right. When was that particular type first made?

Look at the stained wood frame, perhaps made of oak. Pretty thin frame members for an old-time frame, isn't it? When did wood stains become commonly available to consumers (looks like a canned stain to me, but how do you tell?) How far back does the practice of staining wood go, for similar items? The oak has been stained to make it look like walnut, but it is an amateur stain job, with some spots missed. Frame made of commercial oak moulding?

Look at the wood backing we can't see very well in the photos. Any clues there?

Look at the nails-exactly what kind-how much oxidation?

 

Who knows why this came about, but the evidence here is clear.