What are these markings.

[Bigcypresshunter]

You are looking at the backside of a small 19th century original oil painting by a famous American artist I discovered in a thrift shop. I know I should not hold back information but Im sorry I dont want to post the frontside of this painting online at this time. I believe it to be authentic.

What are these round markings with dots on the backside of this painting? The oil painting appears to be on a dark wood like Walnut or Mahogany, surrounded by a wide frame and the two round impressions are about the size of quarters. They are both similar and appear to be pressed or stamped into the wood.

 

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[greenman38]

imprint from the artist easel? wonder if similar artwork of the artist has the same markings? pretty cool, thanks for sharing.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

https://www.christies.com/features/What-you-can-learn-from-the-back-of-a-painting-6359-1.aspx

 

[Red-Coat]

I think you're showing what are known as "product marks". They don't relate to a gallery, auction house or whatever. They're the marks of whoever supplied the prepared wooden panel the artist used. Commercial suppliers of prepared canvas, stretchers, boards, panels (and frames) often marked the back of what they supplied to artists with their name or trademark. Sometimes ink-printed/stencilled, sometimes via a label, and on wooden items often by a stamped impression or pyrograph (burnt with a heated stamp).

Comparison to known works can tell you if an unknown work has used materials favoured by a particular artist or, if the marks can be attributed, can tell you whether the supplier was in the vicinity of where an artist was know to have been working or was active during the artist's lifetime. As such, they're not usually of much help on their own, but form part of a body of evidence that can assist in attribution to an artist... or sometimes rule out a possibility because they are inconsistent with a particular artist by virtue of date, location or preference.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Thanks Red-Coat.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Its one of the Hudson River School artists

 

[DCMatt]

Looks like clamp marks to me... Maybe from the guy who cut the piece down to that size.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Looks like clamp marks to me... Maybe from the guy who cut the piece down to that size.

It could be clamp marks but why the dots inside the circular indentations?