Featured Please Help ID: Woodblock Print, Mohawk (?) Indians night scene, river bank, North Star...

Good Evening Antiquers,
I’m looking for some help IDing this print. I purchased it at a thrift store for 50¢ a while back not really thinking too much about it. Today I cut open the back to reframe it. When I took the print out it exposed some initials in the lower right corner that were cut off by the frame. There are a total of four letters, the first two could be any of the following: f, p, k, or r and the second pair j and r (or r and j).

I tried searching for the image and couldn’t find anything similar in addition to searching for a number of combinations of the letters. It depicts a night scene with a Mohawk Native American Indians (?) on a river bank with a canoe looking at the North Star.

I’d estimate the paper weight is 80lb and it’s smoother (like a hot press versus cold). Regarding the print itself, I’m not convinced it’s an actual woodblock/lino print, I get the impression it’s a print from a metal plate. The actual print measures 6” x 4”, the paper is just ⅜” larger on each side.

In addition, maybe this will help with dating it, I found an old telephone book page, the letter P, featuring contact info for “pleaters” and “platers” in Wisconsin. The phone numbers are a total of five digits, the format being “1-2345” and from what I can find, was used anywhere from 1920-1960.

Thank you so much for taking the time to check this out and read the above, I look forward to hearing what others have to say about it.

 

Wonder whether this wasn't originally a book illustration.

 

Is there just the one set of initials? I see "RJR"

 

Good thought, I think.

 

Look up RJR (which stands for R. J. Reynolds tobacco company -- a company which used "Indians" (Native Americans) in its advertising way back when).

https://www.google.com/search?sourc...hUKEwjz8pqz8YPlAhVtleAKHV9hDaIQ4dUDCAg&uact=5

 

I wondering about some version of The Last of the Mohicans.

 

Thanks for the link! If you look close at the first R, it looks like there is a distinct letter F on top of it, almost like a studio pottery artist monogram or something. Thanks again for your help.

 

I’ve found a few older collections of stories and digging for pictures of illustrations and names of illustrators. This could very well be a print of an engraving from a book. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

I considered that, also Song of Hiawatha, which got me to this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanabozho#/media/File:Manabozhointheflood.png



R.C. Armour is author & illustrator.

 

I was literally just looking at this illustration...

 

I would have guessed that at a much later date than it turns out to be.

The whole of the Leatherstocking Tales is worth a look, I think.

 

Don't you think it has a very art nouveau flavor to it?

As an illustrator, I think Armour is more skillfull than OP's. OP's could be a linocut. Is there any trace of woodgrain in the large areas of black?

The prominence of the star makes me think of religious connotations, like the Christmas.

 

After looking at it closer and comparing it to other examples, I'm 99% convinced it's a linocut. Also, after doing more research, I was wrong in assuming this was a night scene. The "star" is actually the sun (and the sun is a star...). I referred to Native American symbols and it's identical.

I found some artists that are kind've similar, Juan Pino and Andy Chuka, and there's also a lot of information on the history/printmakers in Mexico but haven't had any eureka moments- I didn't even hit on anything similar in terms of the artist monogram on the artistsignatures website.

Also, the more I look at it, I'm not totally convinced it's from a book. The paper is perfectly cut- 6⅜” x 4⅜” (it's hard to tell as the print is not perfectly centered) and the paper seems "special". Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of antique books with plates glued or taped in and I've seen old portfolios but I just don't know if that is the case here. I'm starting to wonder if the phone book page in the frame is a clue... maybe one of the businesses made the plate for this print?

Finally, I just noticed some pencil writing on the backing paper of the frame. "#2000ML $395ea". I purchased this at a thrift store but maybe this was in an estate sale?

Thanks so much to everyone taking a gander at this, I very much appreciate it and everyone on this form in general. I love seeing the interesting antiques people post, sharing knowledge, and group sleuthing- it genuinely makes me feel very happy.

 

Sure. Still thought it was much later. Sometimes the gut is wrong and the brain errant.

Definitely.

 

I nearly commented on this up front; it is a typical sun symbol. If they are launching/beaching a canoe, it has a very angular prow (if that word can be used with a canoe).

My feeling is that artist is not Native American, particularly not Southwest.

The size suggested a plate from a book to me, & there's no reason it can't have been perfectly cut for framing. Having been schooled to think of books as virtually sacred, it was rather a jolt to me when I first learned that print sellers will do this to old books if they think more money is to be had that way. However, it's certainly not necessarily an illustration. Maybe the need I feel for some text to explain who they are & what they're doing is also leading me that way.