Maybe? Probably not? I don't know. It's well done, the signature is very similar (but is that middle initial really an H?), the date is right, but the subject matter is not at all typical. Still, artists have been known to dash off personal works for friends or family, or sometimes just for fun, that have little or no similarity to their "important" work.
Here's another one. Is this watercolor by Margaret Malpass Geiszel? Maybe... but I don't know. This one too is well done, the style is right, she worked in watercolors, the scene could easily have been found on the nearby New Jersey shore, and the signature is very similar but it lacks the MM that she usually used.
Both of these are recent acquisitions, both stand up well on their own, but can either of them be confidently attributed? Probably not by me, but maybe someone better equipped will come forward to buy them, or maybe they will simply be bought and enjoyed by someone who really isn't concerned about the identity of the artist.
And now for something completely different-- a mid-century industrial work station chair, completely original, well-used but not abused, with an adjustable seat height and back height. It might have been for a sewing machine operator, or someone who worked at a parts assembly bench, but what attracted my eye was it's anthropomorphic quality. I see a funny little creature standing there, looking out at me.
That's the fun of this business of collecting stuff, whether for ourselves or for others. There are unanswered questions, mysteries, and even the occasional intentional misconception and the smile that accompanies it.
