'Squall at St Vincent's Rock, Bristol'
Below are descriptions of various aspects of this picture.
Aquisition
Time and Place of Purchase: Around August 2018 at a Saturday morning casual vintage market in Hadleigh, Suffolk. The lady vendor had bought the picture at a car boot sale from a person who said it came from 'an attic' during a 'house clearance'. All attempts to locate the vendor have failed. The price paid remains unpublished as it is a means to confirm the identity of the lady who sold the picture in Hadleigh.
Signature and Inscriptions
Signature and Inscriptions: There are no visible signatures or inscription on the painted surface. There are no inscriptions or labels on the back.
Stretcher
Stretcher: the stretcher is of peculiar construction with corner joints cut to permit stretching in both directions with the insertion of only one key. Apart from the destruction by reduction of size mentioned above the stretcher is in good condition. Members have rectangular cross section and two keys are intact. It appears to be made from a softwood, possibly pine but grains differ between members which indicates that this stretcher may have been repaired prior to canvas being attached. It is possible that it was a secondhand stretcher.Stretcher and Canvas-Back There are marks, two on the lower stretcher member and one on the upper which may be the result of being fixed into a frame.
Canvas
Canvas: Approx 18 threads per cm. When purchased, top and right edges of the canvas (which had been cut as mentioned above)were detached from the stretcher and the canvas itself was crumpled. There are no signs of removal from the stretcher on the bottom or left edges which suggests that the canvas was attached to this stretcher before painting. Intact edges appear to have been cut freehand by knife. The canvas has not been relined. It appears to have been only lightly varnished but without cleaning it is difficult to be sure - in certain lights, notably sunlight, the surface appears reflective, in paler lighting and in photographs the surface appears to be matt.
Canvas Repair: There is a repair which has been made with a rectangular patch of canvas with corners clipped off; its size roughly 180mm x 100mm. It is not the same canvas as the painting, it is later and the weave is different and wider (around 12 threads per cm). A loose corner peeled back slightly revealed that the dark colour of the painting canvas continued under the patch. It is a late, rather than early, repair. Even so, the repair does not appear to be recent. Both painting canvas and repair canvas are slightly lighter in colour beneath the stretcher timbers. The damage appears to have been penetration by a sharp pointed object with consequent tearing.
Canvas, Other Damage: There are three major unrepaired areas of torn canvas and several depressions and folds. The paint surface is damaged and there are missing patches particularly bottom right and near top left. The picture has accumulated dirt and there is extensive craquelure.
Frame
Frame: There was no frame with the picture when purchased. There are marks, two on the lower stretcher member and one on the upper which may be the result of being fixed into a frame.