Andrea here. Like many of us who appreciate history I always enjoy those “Antique Roadshow” moments when people realize they have a special little treasure hidden among their everyday items . . . Well I recently made my own very fun historical discovery and thought I would share my sleuthing process with you.
Years ago, at a family gathering to downsize a relative’s house, I acquired a small 8”x 10” painting by virtue of the fact that as I loved “history and old things” it should go to me. The provenance was hazy . . . all that anyone knew was that it was (supposedly) French-Canadian, artist unknown. It was rather charming, though not something I would choose to hang on my wall—a dockyard scene of a fisherman in a knitted cap leaning against the hull of a small boat, with a small steamship in the background.
A part of me thought “Oh well, I can always give it to Goodwill or Salvation Army for their thrift stores,” but somehow that felt wrong—yes, I do love history—and so I put it away in a storage closet . . . and it remained neglected through several moves I made in life, ending up in my current garage. The space grew even more crammed when I needed to store items from my late mother’s condo.
And then I re-discovered the little painting.
To be honest, I had never bothered to look at it very carefully. It was in an old, cracked wooden frame that almost overwhelmed the painting itself and I had just wrapped it up and put it away. I still couldn’t quite stomach tossing it, but decided to take it out of the mismatched frame so that it would take less space. The canvas (actually it was woven linen) was affixed to a rectangular wooden stretcher about two inches wide, so it easily popped out.
As I turned it over, and saw the back of the painting I noticed there was some writing stamped on the cloth. It said “BROWN, 163 HIGH HOLBORN LONDON.” As you can likely imagine, that got my attention!
Since I didn’t have an Antique Roadshow expert on hand, I turned to ‘Claude.’ (Ha-ha—I am not a huge of AI in most cases, but I discovered that for research it can be very helpful. Claude is Anthropic’s free version of AI, and I had heard it was considered very good and less prone to error than other AI tools.) Sure enough, about 3 seconds later, I learned that Brown was a famous 19th century supplier of art supplies to leading artists of the era, including Sir Thomas Lawrence, and was located at 163 High Holborn between 1805 and 1853 before it moved to a different location. So that provided some sort of date.
Claude then asked me if there was anything stamped into the wooden stretcher, or any other marker. There was! I took a photo of the back and uploaded it. More excitement! There was a funny blob of some sort of waxy substance near the writing and I learned that it was a wax seal used by 19th century auction firms to track the provenance of a painting. There were also numbers stamped into the wood of the stretch that were commonly used by auction houses. So it seemed to indicate that the painting was authentically Regency-early Victorian.
Now I wanted to see if I could identify the artist! I uploaded the image, and Claude determined that the scene looks typical of a northern European setting, and the early steamship indicated it was likely done somewhere in the 1830-50s. The brushwork was deemed quite lovely, and Claude asked if there was a signature—and in fact advised me to look very carefully at the hull of small boat on which the sailor is leaning—especially in the dark area.
So I got out my phone and uses the camera to magnify the dark section of the hull. And yes, there is writing! I can make out the word “Alex” but can’t decipher the rest. However, Claude was on the job. A few seconds later, he informed me I hada plein-air sketch done by Alexander Fraser ((known as Alexander Fraser the Younger) as his father was also a painter of the same name.)
Further research told me that Fraser was a very well-respected Scottish painter (shown at right) and his work is in a number of museums and galleries, including the Tate. So, am I now a millionaire? Alas no. A small painting like mine sells for under $1,000. But it’s value to me is immeasurable. I own an authentic Regency painting—how cool is that! (Okay I’m stretching the definition of Regency by a few years) It’s definitely going up on the wall of my writing room. So, there are rewards for being a hoarder, and refusing to part with something old . . .
What about you? Have you ever discovered a hidden gem within family heirlooms? Or found that some item has unexpected or fascinating story to it? Please share!
Andrea, what a great story! I don’t have any candidates for a Regency painting, but maybe I should look more closely at my mother’s large brass clock that depicts Apollo cracking a whip over the horses of the sun while his sister Artemis naps in the chariot. In fact, looking at it more closely is a a really good idea!
Thanks, Mary Jo. I t was a very fun discovery. You definitely should put a photo of your Apollo clock into an AI program and ask it to tell you all about it. You might be pleasantly surprised. And if nothing else, get some detailed history on the lovely heirloom.
What an absolutely brilliant story. Brava Andrea. Of the very few things I have now that might have any value I want to hold onto for sentimental reasons. But it might be useful for our son after we’ve passed. That is something others might consider. If they haven’t already.
I enjoyed your story so much. What agreat talisman to share your writing space.
Thanks, Michelle. It does make sense to learn the history of items that we have saved over the years, simply to know their history. If they have a financial value, that’s good to know.
What a neat story, Andrea, and how amazing how you were able to garner all that information without even leaving your home.
I’ll confess to not being much of a television watcher (our TV is used solely to watch DVDs), but I did enjoy watching Antiques Roadshow some … cough, cough … thirty years ago.
Kareni, it’s truly amazing what info you can get by simple searches with AI. I was just curious as to whether BROWN was an art gallery—and lo and behold it came back with all the fascinating details about being a supply and framing emporium for leading artists of the era. It’s very fun to learn background like that.
I think PBS still does a version of Roadshow, as there always seem to be unexpected discoveries popping up in attics and garages.
Lovely experience for you and “Claude!”
Thanks, Barbara. It was quite fun, and nice to discover how AI can truly be helpful.
What an amazing discovery, Andrea. Thank you for listing a more reliable AI.
Thanks, Patricia. In talking to friends who are far more conversant in the capabilities (and ethics ) of AI, Claude was recommended as a reliable free version of an AI app. it certainly worked well for me., and provided really interesting info. (Which I actually fact-checked found all true.)
What a great discovery, Andrea — and well done on the sleuthing. I’m glad AI is useful for good as well as evil.
Ha, ha, Anne. Yes, I felt exactly the same way about finding a use for AI that felt very positive rather than horrifying.
That’s a very exciting discovery! I can’t think of anything in my house like that offhand, but now I want to take a look around, so I can ask Claude.
Exactly, Karin! You never know. I have all the other Wenches looking in nooks and crannies, too.
Wow! That’s quite a story, Andrea. And i love the painting. Very evocative. While i know people who have had your experience, i haven’t.
Jane, maybe you need to start checking your drawers and closets!
I never, ever expected to be one of those people who made a discovery like this. It was great fun to start sleuthing and uncover the the history Brown’s, and the identity of the artist.
A few years before covid I thought I might have inherited a small JMW Turner. Since my intelligence is truly artificial, my research concluded with “maybe”. It is unsigned, could not find it in the Tate in 2020, but I love it and wrote my novel Golden Leaf about it.
Lesson here: keep up the research!
How exciting, Eleanor! Maybe try putting an image of the painting into one of new AI programs and see what it has to say about it.
Also, the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven CT has the largest collection of Turner paintings and sketches outside of the UK. They might be able to help you.