Paintings
Oil on Canvas Signed "T. Bailey" Boston Artist Maritime Scene of the Triple-Masted Frigate USS Constitution at Sail
c. Late 19th to Early 20th Century, Oil on Canvas Painting Signed, "T. Bailey" (a.k.a. Morris Hambro 1860-1938), Boston, Framed, Fine.
This somewhat nieve stlye original Oil on Canvas measures about 22.5" x 30.75" (by sight) decoratively period bronze-toned wooden framed to 28.75" x 36.75". Image shows a maritime scene of a triple-masted Sailing Ship which appears to be the frigate USS Constitution, at full sail on somewhat calm waters. No date or place, or markings to the Ship which has an uncanny resemblance to the USS Constitution which was stationed at Boston where the artist resided. Its original period canvas has several small patches on the reverse where protection and reinforcement of the canvas was required from some scattered scrapes and bumps of perhaps a century ago, as shown. The signed name, "T. Bailey" is a fictitious named marine painter, not the actual original artist. Numerous marine paintings bearing this signature emerged from the Boston and Winthrop, MA area between 1910 to 1938. T. Bailey was a pseudonym invented by Morris Hambro (1860-1938), a London-born sign-painter and salesman who came to the U.S. in 1865 and began peddling the Bailey paintings after 1910.
"T. Bailey" is a Fictitious named marine painter. Numerous marine paintings bearing this signature emerged from Boston and Winthrop, MA, between 1910 to 1938. T. Bailey was a pseudonym invented by Morris Hambro (1860-1938), a London-born sign-painter and salesman who came to the U.S. in 1865 and began peddling the Bailey paintings after 1910.
Morris Hambro created the "fictive" artist and sold the paintings door to door, mostly to businesses, traveling from Boston to Worcester, to New Bedford, to Portland (ME), to Cape Cod, and to Fall River. Hambro was extremely successful in his endeavor; one gallery in Boston (the Addition Gallery) reportedly bought the paintings "by the dozen."
A number of names have been suggested as the actual painter, of the marine views, including: Vivian Forsythe Porter, Max Berman (who was married to Hambro's niece), Sears Thompson, J. G. Cloudman, Mae Bennet Brown, Melbourne C. Hardwick; and, in particular, William Frederick Paskell.
It is believed that Hambro bought the works from the artist for $15 to $20, added Bailey's signature, and then sold the paintings for up to $50 a piece. Whether or not the original artists themselves even knew about Hambro's resale marketing strategy is unknown.