A case of mistaken identity

A painting has been misattributed not once, but twice, and British dealers head for New York

- By Huon Mallalieu

When I was new to the hacking trade and had written disobligingly about another newspaper, a battle-scarred editor told me—more forcefully—‘never rubbish the opposition unless you are sure of your facts’. Well, here is a case in which I am sure enough to rubbish anyone, but instead gently question the opinions of a couple of auctioneers and at least two bidders. I was a saleroom cataloguer at a still earlier stage in my career and it was drummed into us that we must really look at what we were describing. That may seem obvious, but it does not always happen.

As an illustration of the procedure, let us ‘catalogue’ a painting sold by Mallams in Oxford on March 8 (Fig 1). The first thing to do is to look at the back. Are there any informative labels or marks? In this case, with Mallams’s own stickers, there is a chalked date that may indicate a previous sale. Another point to note is that, although there are supporters in the inner corners of the frame, the stretcher has no similar wedges, usual in the 19th century. The shadowy images of the composition show that the painter did not prepare the canvas with a ground.

Now to the front. Mallams has given this 25in by 30¾in oil painting the title French Delicacies and it shows a group of smartly dressed Parisiennes staring longingly at a small display in a patisserie’s window. In passing, one should note that some of the paint appears to be oxidising. It is signed ‘Louis Tesson’, but the date is partly obscured by the frame. The next step should be to take the canvas out to check that.