PAIR E TIORENTINO antique 19thC watercolour Neapolitan Capri character portraits

Description: EDOARDO TIORENTINO(1824-1886) PAIR OF EXQUISITELY PAINTED NEAPOLITAN or CAPRI CHARACTER PORTRAITS ANTIQUE, LATER 19TH CENTURY probably c1880 I've seen a lot of this type of portrait over the years, but this artist was REALLY good! The quality is wonderful! And these two Neapolitan/Capri characters in their traditional costumes are really alive in these portraits as they aren't in most! They must have made a pretty good extra living as models in their day, too, as well as re his having been a fisherman. I did actually see that her name was inscribed somewhere as "Maria Rosa, wife of a fisherman of Capri". So, presumably he is the fisherman of Capri. And I am now wondering if this couple may have been related to Rosina, the beautiful daughter of a fisherman of Capri, who was a famous muse to the likes of John Singer Sargent. Rosina was born in 1862, as the youngest child of a fisherman of Capri called Bartolomeo Ferraro, and his wife Maria. So that rather fits with modelling then becoming something the whole family may have then done, to effect, with this couple being that Bartolomeo Ferraro and his wife Maria (or Maria Rosa). Watercolour on paper with visible image of both measuring 14 1/4 x 10 ins (36.3 x 25.2 cm)And including the original frames they measure 17 3/4 x 13 5/8 ins ( 45 x 34.5 cm)Both are signed "E Tiorentino" to bottom right. As is far too often the way, however there is confusion re who the artist here was. Works by this artist are very often attributed to Antonio Enrico Fiorentino (with an "F"). But I don't think that's an "F" in his signature here, or in any other of the like. I think it's a "T". There are also other paintings by Antonio Enrico Fiorentino which are too different and which are both signed by a different looking hand and with an "A" for "Antonio" not an "E" for "Enrico". So I think that attribution is just a mistake that's been repeatedly copied through lazy convenience. I think they're much more probably Edoardo Tiorentino (1824-1886). My only reservation re that is that that means that almost all the portraits by this hand were painted very late in his life, because I was initially thinking mine to be c1890 rather than 1870 or earlier. But 1880/1885 isn't much of a stretch from my 1890 presumption. And if that couple is Bartolomeo and Maria Ferraro, the parents of Rosina, they would have to have been painted c1880/1885 for them to be the age they are. And I certainly haven't seen any paintings of them that look earlier. Condition wise, the frames are fragile and rather chipped, and likely more chipped now than in the photos, but that black slip is a very nice framing effect indeed and the frames are still recoverable/restorable. The glass is original antique slightly wobbly plate glass too. The paintings do obviously need remounting, though, especially as there is some faint foxing there. And there is some grub to the sides on her portrait, which might just come off with a soft rubber, but without taking her out, I'm not sure of that. Its just down the edges though. And that aside, this pair is still really LOVELY! The quality is wonderful!

Price: 370 GBP

Location: Winchester

End Time: 2024-11-03T18:27:47.000Z

Shipping Cost: 45.35 GBP