Hold The Press!
I decided to wrap the item up in tissue paper and safely box it away. But before doing so I got the crazy idea of using my million-candle spotlight on it that I keep in the trunk of my car and see if under the bright light it revealed anything. And it did! I still have to examine it closer in the morning, but my intial discovery this evening is that I don't think it is a hand colored photograph at all. I'm about 80% certain now that it is an original painting. With the use of the spotlight and a magnifying glass it revealed details that I had not noticed before. It's hard to explain, but the brush strokes and other subtleties like almost invisible pencil outlines have all the earmarks of an original painting. I'm not sure this changes anything, but I do consider it a significant piece of information. I will examine it closer in the morning, but at this moment I'm pretty sure it's the real deal.
I'm not sure if the following close ups will do it justice, but hopefully it will give you some idea of what I am referring to. If it is an original painting, that would explain all of the over painting around the edges. I have done a little painting myself in the past, and the best I can do to explain the type of paint here is to call it either a mat oil, or some kind of tempra/chalk form of paint. I am almost certain it is not water color. But to really confirm this one way or another I need to re-research the process of color tinting photographs. That should tell me something. It is definitely on paper and not canvas. There is no question about that!
If necessary, use your zoom feature and see what you think. I apologize for not noticing this earlier, but I just "assumed" it was a photograph ... and it may still be. But I am seriously thinking "painting" right at the moment.
For those not familiar with the "zoom" feature, most desktops have it located in the lower right corner of the screen where you will see a little 100% and a down arrow. Just click on it and change it to the desired level. I suggest 200%. But be sure to set it back to 100% when you are done.
SBB