Collector’s Possible “Find”

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30530, 27 August 1964, Page 11

Collector’s Possible “Find”

A Christchurch man who has been collecting antiques and paintings for more than 20 years may have two valuable paintings in his collec-tion-paintings which cost him £1 each, but which may b worth a small fortune if the?- are genuine.

Local experts who have seen the paintings think they are genuine, and their owner. Mr S. C. Maynard, is now arranging for them to be examined overseas.

One of the paintings is thought to be by George Chinnery, a British artist who painted in the Far East and the other may be by Albert Pinkham Ryder, a pioneer American hermit-artist

Mr Maynard, who paints himself, is not counting any chickens, and even if the paintings are genuine and valuable he may not sell thsm, for collecting is his hobby and a large part of his life.

The painting that may be by Chinnery was bought at an auction sale, and although damaged at the time and slightly more so when Mr Maynard was taking it back to his studio on his bicycle, had been restored.

Chinnery lived from 1774 to 1852 and painted landscapes and portraits. He has a painting in the National Portrait Gallery in England. “Fled to East" He “fled” to the East to escape a virago of a wife, painted in India, including portraits of East India Company officials and their wives, in Macao and Canton. Many of his paintings are Chinese scenes, as is the painting owned by Mr Maynard. The Hong Kong Government is a collector of Chinnery’s work, and Mr Maynard has sent a photograph of the painting to Hong Kong, but has been advised to send the painting itself to Sotheby’s, the famous London art deal-

ers. where, if the picture is a true Chinnery, it could attract world-wide competition. “And the rest,” said one local art expert when asked by Mr Maynard if the painting could be worth £lOOO. The farm scene which may be a Ryder is painted on wood, which fits in with much of Ryder’s work, and it was bought for Mr Maynard by a friend, mainly for the gilt frame surrounding it, but Mr Maynard felt a charm about the enamel-like oil painting. Ryder, who died in 1917, left about 300 pictures out of a life-time of 70 years. They were largely sea-pieces, but included landscapes and homely farm scenes. Bed Panels He painted few large pictures. His little canvases were often measured in inches, and squares of wood served when canvas could not be afforded. When all else failed he would saw a square cut out of a walnut panel of the bedstead and paint on

that. Mr Maynard has looked at the wood on which his painting is done, and thinks it may even be walnut. The painting, which shows a farmer with a horse, a flock of geese and a waggon in a farmyard, will be of great value if it is a Ryder, for Americans have adopted him as “the” American artist. To check its authenticity, Mr Maynard proposes to negotiate with the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, which has one of Ryder’s paintings. The photograph above shows Mr Maynard with his paintings, the reputed Chinnery being the larger. While the pictures will be Mr Maynard’s major “finds” if they are proved genuine, he has had some success with his collecting before, having once sold a bronze of the Ming Dynasty for £650. It cost only a few pounds as part of a collection. But Mr Maynard did not buy his paintings with any idea of profit He merely wanted them for his collection.