Cornish Cottage....?

I've been absent for a while. Hoping someone can help me, I usually reach out when I've exhausted every research tool.

picked up this sweet little picture today. I didn't spend an arm and leg so if it's not notable that is ok. The Frame looks 1920's the cottage farm scene looks 1800's and the writing on the back looks old. I've found some artists' named 'Seemann' but the medium and subject matter is vastly different. It appears original under a magnified glass. Maybe Pastel/charcoal Any idea of age? Artist? Medium? Value?

Thank you again for taking the time to look.

 

Try S & E Mann.

 

There's an ampersand between S and E. Odd, but it's there.

 

I'm not sure what that is. Removing it from the frame might help.

 

A.S Bemann?

 

Appears to be an amateur work in pastels. I see artist's surname as "Seemann." If I had to make an educated guess... I'd think work contemporary with frame and scene meant to be nostalgic with costumes from the late 1800s. Certainly agree that sticker in much older hand but doesn't appear to be that of the artist.

Debora

 

Fight it out, y'all!!! I too think it's probably A. SEEMANN

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The tag on the back was written with a fountain pen, I’m pretty sure. Personally, I find my writing style differs drastically if I’m using a fountain pen versus a paint brush, but the tag could have been written by someone else. The framer, the purchaser, the artist’s friend, the owner of the shop where it was sold…

 

I'd check if there was a POW camp around Plymouth. sometimes you find lists online of the German prisoners.

 

"There were several prisoner-of-war camps in the Plymouth area including Central Park (southern end), Plymouth, Bickham, Buckland Monachorum, Hazeldene and Elburton. Former Nissen huts in the grounds of Chaddlewood House, Saltram Park and Marsh Mills were also used."

"One of the main archives of information relating to these Plymouth POWs is held at the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office."

source:https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/history/german-prisoners-helped-build-honicknowle-3436952

 

Yes, that's what I thought too. A charity shop offering for aged fishermen or some such.

Debora

 

Crazy as it would seem to me, when I went back and looked today....I DO now think @Bakersgma is right....my eyes sometimes get tired at night.....and NOW, today, I see that 'letter' after the "S" as an 'ampersand', which on enlarging, I did NOT see last night.....go figure!!!!!! Which makes the whole signature even stranger!

 

I seriously doubt that this piece was made circa WWII (or WWI either.) Looking for POW camps is a ridiculous suggestion.

 

Would you be kind enough to share your reasoning?

Debora

 

The backing paper and how aged it looks in particular.

 

everyone knows that there was neither rain nor humidity in England after 1914...

 

My vote is for I or A Seemann; the first letter has been partially lost to the frame. It is odd that the tag says "A Cornish Cottage, Plymouth, England", when Plymouth is in Devon not Cornwall, and a local artist wouldn't put the country on, would they, everyone knows Plymouth and Cornwall are in England! My guess is that the artist may or may not be English - the style could well be English, but I'm no expert! But the person who wrote the tag, perhaps circa 1900 - 1930, perhaps when framing the picture, is definitely not from the UK. Whoever and wherever, it's a very pleasant little painting, I really like it.

 

Fisherman's cottage on the south coast appear to have been a popular subject during period.

https://paradeantiques.co.uk/art/painting/c1900-fishermens-cottages-watercolour-by-lewis-mortimer

Debora