When an artist is dead, who is left to say "yes, this is one of his works" or "no, he did not do this"? As we have seen in the case of Mrs. Milton Stevens, an unscrupulous seller can misrepresent an artist's work in order to sell it for a higher price. Motives aside, anyone can claim, absent a definitive canon, that this or that work was created by a certain artist. In a later article we'll look at some works that have been represented on the Internet as being Quaintance pieces that are not. But for now we'll look at some odd works that actually are by Quaintance. Part 2 considers items that are not drawings or paintings in the traditional sense; part 3 will give you a look at some other unknown works that you'd never suspect were by Quaintance. A thank-you to the Finter-Salvino archive for much of this material, which has been carefully maintained and preserved by descendants of Quaintance's family.
The Victorian entryway table and three chairs you see here were painted with gilt paint by a young George. He decorated the furniture with simple gold lines and swirls, as well as with ornamental clusters of leaves and fruit. The bottom of the serving tray shows a painting of a bucolic cottage with lots of flowers, a blue sky with fleecy clouds and a child playing in the yard. These pieces are still owned by the family today.