Bidspirit auction | A Pair of 19th Century

A Pair of 19th Century European School Landscape Oil Paintings on Wood Panel - This pair of small-scale landscape paintings is executed in oil on wood panels and depicts traditional 19th-century pastoral scenes. One painting features a shepherd tending to a flock of sheep in an open pasture under a clouded sky, while the other portrays a secluded rural cottage nestled among autumnal trees. The works emphasize atmospheric light and muted tonalities, featuring visible impasto particularly within the cloud formations. Both panels are housed in matching, highly ornate Victorian-era gilt composition frames with deep coves and elaborate rococo-inspired foliate and scroll moldings at the corners and midpoints. The versos consist of plain, dark wood panels secured with small nails, without any identifying signatures, maker's marks, labels, or stamps. 11.25 x 9.25 inches (each, framed). Both paintings exhibit significant vertical craquelure and cracking in the paint layer, following the grain of the wood supports. There are multiple areas of visible paint loss and surface flaking, most notably within the sky regions of the sheep painting. General surface abrasions and areas of thinness in the paint layer are present. The frames show multiple small chips, cracks, and losses to the gilt gesso and composition ornamentation, particularly at the edges and corners. Both the paintings and the deep recesses of the ornate frames have a heavy accumulation of surface dirt and dust.