ENGLISH SCHOOL (19TH CENTURY) "Two Peaches." Oil on board, 6" x 7½" (sight); 11" x 13" (framed). Price Category: B

This striking and meticulous still life is by an accomplished hand, but we don't know whose, as the work is unsigned. We can assume, however, that it was painted in London between 1840 and 1861, as those are the dates of Prince Albert's reign as the husband of Queen Victoria. Information on the back of the panel states that the prepared mill board was furnished by "Winsor & Newton, Artists' Colourmen to Her Majesty and to His Royal Highness Prince Albert, 38, Rathbone Place, London." The artist, of course, might not have been English, as many painters of the day worked in London. The composition harkens back to the Baroque period in its use of stark lighting against a black background to create the illusion of volume and three-dimensionality for the fruit. Red and yellow are colors that make objects appear to move forward from the picture plane toward the viewer, a principle which this artist has utilized to full effect. These peaches seem bursting with ripeness; there is a tactile and voluptuous quality to the paint that is quite remarkable. The painting is offered in its original delicately carved gilt frame. Provenance: Maxwell Galleries, San Francisco.

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