Possible help on oil painting?

JohnK · 01:01 PM

I have an oil paint that was acquired by my parents in the late 1960's early 70's thru an auction or an interior decorator. I have just taken the time to look at it, and I can't figure out who the artist is, nor can two other art dealers in town. (I live in a small town).

The frame looks original, it's a landscape with a person sitting in the middle ground. The signature starts with the first initial which is W. The last name is extremely hard to figure out. It looks like it possibly is Bolowy? ... Bolou (followed by possibly three more letters). And possibly Bolberg? or Bolbough?

I had it out of the frame and signature was cleaned, but it wasn't much help. Any thoughts would be appreciated. I will probably have to send it to an appraiser in San Francisco.

John

JohnK · January 24th, 2012, 12:57 PM

I took the painting out of the frame, and took some closeups of the signature, this is a tricky one to read.

Doing a Google image search, I did find a impressionist painting from a British painter from the 1800's that had a canvas frame construction identical to this one, but the signature doesn't match.

Once again any help would be appreciated. And there is no title on the painting nor on the back of it.

John · January 24th, 2012, 01:24 PM

Thanks, that will make it much easier to try to come up with guesses.

John · January 24th, 2012, 02:59 PM

I'm not the greatest at reading signatures but I'll give it a first shot. The lettering may look different in person, from from that photo I can see any of the following. I think the first letter of the last name could be an R or even a P.

Borough?
Bullough?
Rainey?
Ramsey/Ramsay?

JohnK · 08:50 PM

I have tried using Google with those combinations, I will try more this evening, I didn't come up with anything yet, but this will take some time!

I will also try to take more closeups of the signature this evening from a different angle, it might help. I don't think this will be a easy signature to decipher!

John

JohnK · January 24th, 2012, 08:49 PM

Here are a few more macro pictures, I don't know if these are going to help, but thanks to the people who look at them. For the heck of it, the canvas size is 18" Wide X 10" Tall.

JohnK · January 25th, 2012, 09:07 PM

I did find a California artist named Randal W. Borough, but I have not been able to find pictures of his work or his signature...

He apparently has work from the late 1800's into the 1900's...but I don't think this is the artist... I am trying to find out more, but the work I have seen doesn't look like this style.

John · January 26th, 2012, 12:59 AM

http://www.askart.com/askart/b/randa...m_borough.aspx

JohnK · January 26th, 2012, 09:22 PM

I will have to register with that site to view the signature of his work...Thanks for pointing the way.

John

JohnK · February 1st, 2012, 10:50 PM

I took off some of the loose paper on the back of the frame, and underneath there was a sticker from "Boots Pure Drug Co LTD". The timeline of the company in Nottingham England says the it was Renamed to Boots Pure Drug Co LTD in 1888. If the frame is original to the painting, it was hanging in Nottingham in 1888, and perhaps the artist is European.

This kind of leaves me to believe that the artist was not the California artist Randal William Borough, and I have not paid ask art yet to view his signature.

I am going to try to find "somebody" for help with the signature, like I said, I live in a small town with limited resources, I'm up near the Oregon border on the coast in California.

When I get this figured out, I will let you know the outcome!

jessiecha · February 2nd, 2012, 10:16 PM

Definitely Borough.

JohnK · February 3rd, 2012, 09:00 PM

It may be Borough, and I can only find one artist named Randal William Borough, I did register with AskART thinking I would be able to view his signature, but, there was none.

The label on the back from Boots Pure Drug Company, may or may not mean much about it being a European artist, after reading more about the company, sold controlling interest to the Rexall company in the United states in around 1923, I could not find if they had offices in the United States.

I am going to have to wait until March, an out of town appraiser look's at artwork at a local museum in my town, that's about my only option right now.

January 24th, 2012, 05:19 PM	#5
JohnK Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Northern Ca Posts: 10	I have tried using Google with those combinations, I will try more this evening, I didn't come up with anything yet, but this will take some time! I will also try to take more closeups of the signature this evening from a different angle, it might help. I don't think this will be a easy signature to decipher! John Last edited by JohnK : January 24th, 2012 at 08:50 PM.

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January 24th, 2012, 01:24 PM	#3
John John Malyon, host Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 2,401	Thanks, that will make it much easier to try to come up with guesses.

January 24th, 2012, 02:59 PM	#4
John John Malyon, host Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 2,401	I'm not the greatest at reading signatures but I'll give it a first shot. The lettering may look different in person, from from that photo I can see any of the following. I think the first letter of the last name could be an R or even a P. Borough? Bullough? Rainey? Ramsey/Ramsay?

January 25th, 2012, 09:07 PM	#7
JohnK Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Northern Ca Posts: 10	I did find a California artist named Randal W. Borough, but I have not been able to find pictures of his work or his signature... He apparently has work from the late 1800's into the 1900's...but I don't think this is the artist... I am trying to find out more, but the work I have seen doesn't look like this style.

January 26th, 2012, 12:59 AM	#8
John John Malyon, host Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 2,401	http://www.askart.com/askart/b/randa...m_borough.aspx

January 26th, 2012, 09:22 PM	#9
JohnK Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Northern Ca Posts: 10	I will have to register with that site to view the signature of his work...Thanks for pointing the way. John

February 1st, 2012, 10:50 PM	#10
JohnK Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Northern Ca Posts: 10	I took off some of the loose paper on the back of the frame, and underneath there was a sticker from "Boots Pure Drug Co LTD". The timeline of the company in Nottingham England says the it was Renamed to Boots Pure Drug Co LTD in 1888. If the frame is original to the painting, it was hanging in Nottingham in 1888, and perhaps the artist is European. This kind of leaves me to believe that the artist was not the California artist Randal William Borough, and I have not paid ask art yet to view his signature. I am going to try to find "somebody" for help with the signature, like I said, I live in a small town with limited resources, I'm up near the Oregon border on the coast in California. When I get this figured out, I will let you know the outcome!

February 2nd, 2012, 10:16 PM	#11
jessiecha Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 17	Definitely Borough.

February 3rd, 2012, 09:00 PM	#12
JohnK Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Northern Ca Posts: 10	It may be Borough, and I can only find one artist named Randal William Borough, I did register with AskART thinking I would be able to view his signature, but, there was none. The label on the back from Boots Pure Drug Company, may or may not mean much about it being a European artist, after reading more about the company, sold controlling interest to the Rexall company in the United states in around 1923, I could not find if they had offices in the United States. I am going to have to wait until March, an out of town appraiser look's at artwork at a local museum in my town, that's about my only option right now.