Marvelous antique oil painting on canvas, a gendarme or French military officer in full uniform and displayed in the original heavy 14 5/8" solid old growth European oak frame and with handwritten personalizations on the canvas backing! We've had this one for a few years and I pulled it from a box wondering why we hadn't listed it yet. A wonderful smaller painting, the canvas itself is only 8.5" x 6". Artist signed in red in the lower right corner and appears to read "M. Henri (S?)". I took the back off of the frame, meaning to just oil the wood without getting any on the painting and, to my surprise, the back of the canvas and stretcher are just covered in handwritten text. I've not translated all of it but appears to be history of sorts of the sitter/subject, including schooling, dates, perhaps children, etc. The writing identifies the subject as Louis Périchon(?) and that he is the son of Joseph Périchon and Annette Cartary (fils de Joseph Périchon et de Annette Cartary) and that he attended Aubusson College from 1867-1870. Quite unique, the only drawback is that you can't see all of the writing unless you remove the solid wood backing. Fantastic though, wouldn't you say!
Very good condition. There are a few tiny spots where the paint is chipped, visible in the images but all else superb. The frame is also in great shape with just a few visible signs of its age. See images for all measurements.
