Featured John Leech ink and watercolour drawings

I picked these two up at the market today. They look like original hand coloured ink drawings. They have labels on the back referring to J Leech, John Leech I think. No signatures visible though. At first I thought that they must be engravings of the originals but on closer inspection, they are different to the version I can see online. Maybe someone has copied them by hand of maybe Mr Leech painted two or more different versions?

 

Different from the originals in what way?

Debora

 

Okay. Here's one from the illustrated book they were published in.. The horse riders hat is pulled over his eyes jn the one published online. The sign above door is different. Have s look. Lots of details are different as if it's a completely different drawing.

 

that's expensive framing..

 

Could it be that the hand-coloring is accounting for the differences you're seeing?

Debora

 

Thanks for looking. That had crossed my mind. However the letters on the sign above the door are different. The dogs tail bottom right is shaped differently, the man's head in the door way is completely different. Also the signature which is in the book bottom left, is absent from mine.

On the other drawing the shrub under the horse which is in pen, is different.

 

its a tricky one to tell for sure, and doesn't really make a lot of sense.........but think its actually is drawn (ink) theres quite a few subtle differences, and the ink looks strong..................i reckon though someone might have drawn the ink over the original print .........maybe

 

the title that is shown, definitely looks to have come from a print

 

Possibly. Don't know how the signature would get absent though or the writing would be different. Maybe Mr Leech liked it so much he painted it twice.

There might be another Mona Lisa floating about somewhere.

 

It does. Could have been added during the framing process. The framers only came into existence in the late 1980s. Much later than they say the drawing was produced, if we are to believe the label.

 

or maybe the artist did the ink himself over a print, theres a guy in our village who does the same, just to save time

 

You are a man of fine taste sir!

 

I've assisted in framing hundreds of fine art prints...

 

Well curiosity got the better of me and I cracked one open. No sign of a siggy anywhere. Might be one on the back of it but it's stuck fast to some crude parchment stuff. Presumably from when it was framed. Not much point in cracking the other open as I'm pretty sure that I will find the same.

 

looks like handmade paper..

 

Yes it's quite crude. It's got lumps o wood in it.

 

But the 3 & 4 areas I circled look like they may have potential written areas inside them????

 

I'll have a look. There might be a monogram somewhere. The original from the book had the signature in the centre just underneath the art work.

 

Maybe this could be something. I'd kind of expect the same siggy to be on the other drawing too though?