I recently acquired a lithography, pastoral scene, colored and signed
by a C.B. Millner and dated 1885.  The initials MAY be C.P. and the
date 1883, but the former seems more clear.  Artwork is framed and
matted in recent years I think.  Actual picture is about 8" high x 12
1/4 wide.  It appears to be in very good condition.  Any information
to help identify artist and possible worth greatly appreciated.  I got
it at a yard sale for 3 dollars.

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 16 Feb 2006 10:39 PST

Please have a look at these images. Do the general style and the
signature resemble your picture?
http://www.auction-bergmann.de/auktion/74/images/voll/0935.jpg

Regards,
Scriptor

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Clarification of Question by ralaw-ga on 21 Feb 2006 12:37 PST

No.  The signature on mine is not in script, but upper and lower case
hand printed in ink, and the date 1885 likewise just above the
signature. both in lower right corner.  The scene is very softly done,
of rocks and sharp hills and tall feathery trees, with what appears to
be a lake in the background.  There are two small figures in the
middle front, low down, of a man sitting on the ground, facing a
standing woman, carrying a basket.  They appear to be dressed in 17th
century peasant, I might say european or italian, attire. They wear
dark wide-brimmed hats.  Coming along a path from the left, towards
the viewer, is another man leading a donkey laden with something
indistinguishable. The man is similarly attired in just below knee
pantaloons The donkey appears to e pulling a load up an incline into
the picture.  The figures are all deinitely (in my opinion) hand
painated, and sharper than the tinted landscape around them.  It is
double matted and in a very nice frame obviously done by a
professional some years back.  I hate to remove it from same to try to
scan it, but I may find a way to duplicate it with a digital camera or
something.  It's former owner was about to get rid of it to Goodwill,
and I asked for it.  The last time I used Google Answers about a piece
of artwork from this same gentleman, it turned out to be by a very
welll-known English artist who died in 1991 named Valerie Thornton
whose works hang in The Tate Galleries in London.  Thus, before
discarding this one I thought I'd better check.  thanks for any help
you can give me.

HI,
Here are some more paintings by Carl Millner (1825-1894).  From your
description of your work, it seems very much that it is his later
style (typical Romanticism of the period), but C.B. or C.P. as
initials don't find this artist (or any other), and your item seems
small for his work.

You call it a lithograph, but refer to hand painted figures.  A
lithograph is a form of reproduction (as you probably know).  It would
be quite unusual for a scene of this type to be one, and even more
unusual for the figures to have been painted on it, if that is what
you are suggesting.

http://www.thecatalogues.com/cgi-bin/cart.pl?city=vail&fid=s6&category_id=116&product_id=2995&vendor_id=558

http://www.acz.nl/onsaanbod/Schilderijen/P12%20schilderij%20Carl%20Millner.htm

http://www.hampel-auctions.com/o_auction.php3?archiv/kuenstler/520.html.~mainFrame

http://www.internationalauctioneers.com/int/lot_detail.asp?LotID=237&AucID=5675

http://www.trendycoolartstuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=680

http://www.gwpa.no/kataloger/2004/36/juleauksjon/46492.html

Let us know what you think.

Regards, Myoarin

I APOLOGIZE FOR MY DELAY IN ANSWERING.  i HAVE BEEN QUITE ILL. Just
before I got so bad I opened one of the pictures/websites, and found
one that looked very similar in style!  Alpine scene, romantic, etc.
and the only difference I noted was the new picture was much brighter
in colors.  I would swear it was the same artist!  However, now that
my fever has broken, I can't find the darned thing that I meant to
send you, and I seem unable to open the http websites now.  I remember
the perhaps German sounding name as aplenstr......something.  Can you
help me recover it again?  I really believe it was by the same artist,
figure styles etc.  Mountains in background more sharp than
mine...which probably means my small one is a reproduction ???

Hi Ralaw-ga,
I am glad to hear that you have recovered from you illness.
There were many artists in that romantic period who painted works of
that type:  mountain background, rural genre scene with figures in the
foreground.  Most of these, however, were much larger that your 8x12
inch piece, suggesting that it may be a reduced sized reproduction.
Your memory of that name (perhaps title?):  "aplenstr..." suggests
from your description that it might be the title:  "Alpenstraße"
(Alpenstrasse), translatable as "an alpine road", but this is just
speculation on my part.

Sorry that I cannot be of more help.
Regards, Myoarin

I'd like to see a close-up of the trees.  Can you describe them?  Are
they well defined, or sort of "ploomy"?