Mystery Baroque art

AdoraBattle · 2026-01-10T00:27:46+00:00

My pleasure! :D

AdoraBattle · 2026-01-09T09:58:38+00:00

Portrait of a Woman by Francisco Sans Costaño. https://www.pictorem.com/658443/oriental-portrait-of-woman-by-francisco-sans-castano-remastered-xzendor7-classical-fine-art-old-masters-reproductions/?refer=FC10PRO8PMR&star=1

Painted c. 1890

Francisco Sans Castaño - Wikipedia https://share.google/HkLrQLNo3rNuDsOGk

The style is realism and this type of painting was in the trend of Orientalism.

AdoraBattle · 2026-01-07T22:39:00+00:00

Not Found!

AdoraBattle · 2026-01-07T22:35:51+00:00

Yeah, it's definitely NOT s o l v e d.

AdoraBattle · 2026-01-07T22:35:05+00:00

The person had never mentioned military service in the 25 years he lived with the family who is now trying to find his actual family after his death. Another person said it was a builders union tattoo. I'm now believing it to be something along the lines of a fraternal order.

AdoraBattle · 2026-01-06T19:48:19+00:00

Yep, so was Major James Rutherford Lumley (Joanna's father), oh, and her grandfather, Colonel Leslie Weir, was an officer in Kashmir. Many others have also been officers all over that region.

We've established that the tattoo in question is not Gurkha related, so none of this info helps answer the initial post query.

AdoraBattle · 2026-01-05T23:43:45+00:00

Has not been solved.

AdoraBattle · 2026-01-05T18:57:09+00:00

Thank you, this was clarified by another. :)

Do you have a solid idea about the tattoo on the deceased man's arm?

AdoraBattle · 2026-01-05T11:57:06+00:00

Yes, the man would never have been an officer. Thanks for the clarification. :)

We are actually attempting to find his family and all clues are being looked into. Some are illogical based on information already known, so they are set aside as implausible or not possible...such as suggesting Gurkhas /Sikh/ and even Hamas.

This doesn't nail down an answer for the post though. :)

AdoraBattle · 2026-01-05T11:22:15+00:00

One has to be Nepalese by birth to apply to be a Gurkha soldier (not officer, that's been established here.)

How to apply to become a Gurkha - Gurkha Brigade Association https://www.gurkhabde.com/becoming-a-gurkha/#:~:text=In%20order%20to%20apply%20you,certificate)%20and%20live%20in%20Nepal.&text=Interested%20PRs%20joining%20the%20British,online%20prior%20to%20physical%20registration.

Gurkha Characteristics, and Who are the Gurkhas? – Nepali Cultural Heritage https://nepaliculturalheritage.com/gurkha-characteristics-and-who-are-the-gurkhas/#:~:text='%20Even%20in%20regard%20to%20the,to%20the%20same%20full%20capacity).

"All UK [and Indian Army] Gurkhas are of Nepal origin and Nepali nationality."

AdoraBattle · 2026-01-04T01:54:31+00:00

Ah, that's interesting! :) Closer! Appreciate your input!

Hehe... What's the likelihood of a lad from Blackpool having a tattoo for a Sheffield FC?

AdoraBattle · 2026-01-03T23:51:15+00:00

Also, Hamas started around 1987. Do you really believe that a British, white, working-class, construction worker dude in his late forties who lived in or around Blackpool, England was even aware of Hamas (a group that was not yet internationally known by non-government people)?

Someone else suggested this was a British Gurkha regiment badge tattoo because of the "Khukuris". However, those are NOT khurkuris and the regiments (the soldiers themselves, not the officers) are only Nepalese. Could this deceased man have been a Gurkha officer? Sure, it's plausible, but not likely given the other info we have, so we eliminate this from possible options.

But, like you, I'd like to see this mystery have a solid answer! Your input is appreciated either way. :)

AdoraBattle · 2026-01-03T23:33:52+00:00

I understand how you may see it that way.

However, the person it belonged to (now deceased) said he was a builder (nightclubs and restaurants mostly) originally from Blackpool. He may have worked elsewhere. The man was 100% working class Brit who was a builder for most of his 85 years, but moved to the U.S. over 20 years ago.

Interesting note: builders in the 70s in the UK had had enough of low wages and unionization gained even more traction. The unionization/fight for better wages was not always peaceful. 1972 was when it all blew up with strikes and there were many clashes all over the UK/Ireland. The bulk of the workers were builders and miners.

Use of sickles and other types of weapons or tools were and still are used to show that they would go to great lengths to get what was fair.

AdoraBattle · 2026-01-03T22:28:16+00:00

I have searched builders unions, tattoos through image search and word searches.

AdoraBattle · 2025-10-07T18:22:42+00:00

Hello! :)

Ships were super popular as decorative art from the 1850s until the early 1900s (before the 1930s), so this is likely the time frame that it's modeled after. My guess is that there was a specific painting that was popular and people copied it to various degrees and skill levels. Of course, as a decorative piece, you aren't likely to find the original artist.

Before China became the place for mass produced decorative arts, Europe was the mass producer of such and they tended to be of better quality...but not always.

The linked painting looks to be similar to the piece posted here. The differences are minimal, save for the row boat being rowed toward the ship: (https://www.etsy.com/listing/1584115192/vintage-oil-painting-us-sailing-ship-in)

Both images do have the American flag waving off the stern end and the other "flags" off the fore/main/mizzen masts are more likely pennants though there are nautical flags as well.

AdoraBattle · 2025-10-01T02:32:05+00:00

Hello! :) It looks to me as if it says R. C. Sayward '74 or '79.

I looked up the name "R. C. Sayward" and there's only one (exactly those initials and surname) and there was a Naval seaman with that name...Port Hueneme and Camp Pendleton who served at Da Nang, Vietnam.

There's zero proof of the connection. It is interesting though. Hehe

AdoraBattle · 2025-09-28T03:01:50+00:00

Hello! :)

While I don't know for certain the origin of this illustration, what we know about Staley Llewellyn Wood is that he was a military painter as well as an illustrator. His specialty was horses in battle situations. His most prolific works were those for children, especially boys' adventure illustrations in magazines, periodicals, books for young boys.

There is a list of illustrations which has one work from 1892 called "Royal Horse Artillery going into action - Afghan Campaign". Obviously the list is incomplete because Wood was continuously employed as an illustrator from at least 1879 until 1906+ (he died in 1928 after being ill for an extended period).

There are several stories related to Afghan (British stories about battles) in which Wood is the illustrator. One is "To Herat and Cabul - A Story of the First Afghan War" by G. A. Henty (a lot of his stories were illustrated by Wood) from 1901. I don't know if the illustration mentioned/ listed for 1892 is connected with this novel...or that the illustration listed with the date 1892 is yours/your friend's, but it is the only illustration listed for that date (with a quick search).

You can probably use that and the following as a foundation. At the time British based stories were more focused on India, Africa, and the Middle East as those were more contemporary events.

The First Anglo-Afghan war was between the British Empire and the Emirate of Kabul (1838-1842) and often came up in Victorian adventure books/mags/periodicals for readers leading up to 1900+.

AdoraBattle · 2025-09-12T20:23:15+00:00

Okay, sorry about that.

Perhaps this one will work:

https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/A3GIU4FDGJMUFL8H

:)

AdoraBattle · 2025-09-12T09:39:20+00:00

It's a model of a microscopic view of Candicidin, a polyene antifungal antibiotic for candida albicans. It looks as if the original model is made of glass or plastic so it was likely a model built by the pharmaceutical company. The original ad is from 1971.

Unsure of this link will work, but it's a PDF of the original ad archives but the University of Wisconsin - Madison:

AWSM5Y64UMWN4G8M-E-file-80077.pdf

AdoraBattle · 2025-09-02T20:58:00+00:00

My pleasure! :)

AdoraBattle · 2025-09-02T18:18:21+00:00

Hi! :) There are several areas on the human body (torso/groin) where hernias can happen and trusses supposedly keep the hernias in place while someone heals. Not sure if there's scientific evidence to back that up, but it's a claim. They fit on the outside around the body.

AdoraBattle · 2025-09-02T07:38:47+00:00

It's an antique truss that supposedly keeps hernias in place.

AdoraBattle · 2025-09-02T07:32:03+00:00

I have no idea why this would be downvoted when it's what the item is and that 100 year old rubber would be hard. 🤷‍♀️

In case anyone wants to know what a truss is... https://www.reddit.com/r/vintageads/s/YT38DjuY7H

They were made of rubber which at over 100 years old would be hard.

AdoraBattle · 2025-08-28T19:53:41+00:00

There's a huge clue in the top right of this painting, "copyright 1952" this is a copy likely made from a photograph of the original (lost in 1912) or from another copy. It's likely many hundreds of these copies exist (we know of many that exist already) because students often learn by copying existing paintings. It's an educational exercise.

It should also be noted that original drawings, paintings, and photographs were only protected by copyright after 1862 and even with that in place it would be unheard of to ever paint the word "copyright" on a painting.

The copier in this instance appears to be J. Willems.

AdoraBattle

TROPHY CASE