Dating Clementine Hunter's
Paintings By Signature:
 |
| '39-'43 |
40's |
50's |
60's |
70's |
80's |
80's |
Clementine did not sign her earliest
paintings, and this is one of the most reliable ways that they
can be identified and dated. It was only around 1944 that signatures
began to appear on Hunter's works, the first signature being
"Clemence", which was actually added by James Register,
a friend and early mentor during that period. The signature CH
began to appear in the 1950's and continued on into the 1960's
with the C reversed. Gradually, during the 1970's and onward,
the reversed C was moved closer and closer to the H and finally
overlapped it.
A Note About The Letters
and Numerals
On "Bowl of Zinnias":
 |
| Penciled lettering on left front of
"Bowl of Zinnias" |
Clementine Hunter's "Bowl
of Zinnias" is unsigned, though it bears a sequence of numerals
and letters (8
0 C,) that might mistakenly
be interpreted as a signature by those unfamiliar with Clementine's
signature styles and the history of her paintings. These markings
and the numeral (9) shown in the image below appear
to be coincidental and are most likely notations concerning the
contents of the box from which the piece of corrugated board
was taken. Boxes like these would have been available at the
Melrose store, and the lettering was probably already there when
Clementine did her painting.
 |
| Penciled numeral "9" on
right front of "Bowl of Zinnias" |
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