Found: Basenji prints

[Holly]

I didn't know where to post this properly. Hope this works! Down in the basement of an old church, I found 4 prints of African hunters with their basenji's. There is one that was signed, but the name has faded and cannot be read. Does anybody recognize these prints and/or know where they came from?
Thanks for any help.:)

[Kipawa]

Those are incredible! How big are they?

Are you planning on selling them? If so, what price?

[Holly]

Hi Kipawa, um, they are about 20"x14". They're great, aren't they! I couldn't believe what I was looking at in this church basement! I felt like I struck gold. They do have some water damage, but not bad. My 14 year old son really wants them to hang in his bedroom. We are fairly new basenji owners (almost 7 months) and are totally in love with our Binti. I did wonder where in the world they originated and who the artist might be. Thanks for looking!

[tanza]

WOW, is all I can say

[agilebasenji]

Oh WOW! I've seen these somewhere . . . but that's all I can remember. Maybe ebay? national specialty??? I don't know.

Personally, I'd hang on to them. You will need to remove the cardboard on the back of them and get them properly cared for with acid free mat/backing. Cardboard is acidic and will cause damage to the print over time. You will want to mat them so that the print is NOT touching the glass if it is not too late to do that. I'm not sure if anything can be done about the water damage or not. I'd do a little research and find that out.

I'd also ask around and see if you can find some history on them. Perhaps your church sponsored a missionary who went to the Congo. Very interesting. You should play the lottery or you used up your luck. Not sure which.

But PLEASE make sure these are cared for so that they will be around for a long time. (also, I wouldn't display them in direct contact with sunlight.)

[debbi j.]

Ditto from me. These are so neat! I'd love to know the history behind them.

debbi j.

[CongoMama]

Artist is John Fullton, who I believe died in 1998. Mr. Fullton was an American artist AND Spanish matador. He was good friends with basenji fancier/artist, fellow Spain resident Robert Vavra and my understanding, did the prints as a favor. Do not sell without first getting appraised as they quite likely are worth something as I believe the printings were limited. Do take agilebasenjis advice and get them 'cleaned up'. Congrats on such a wicked find!

[Holly]

@CongoMama:

Artist is John Fullton, who I believe died in 1998. Mr. Fullton was an American artist AND Spanish matador. He was good friends with basenji fancier/artist, fellow Spain resident Robert Vavra and my understanding, did the prints as a favor. Do not sell without first getting appraised as they quite likely are worth something as I believe the printings were limited. Do take agilebasenjis advice and get them 'cleaned up'. Congrats on such a wicked find!

Wow! Thank you for the info. How do you know all this? It's wonderful! And I thank the rest of you for your advise as well, for they are poorly framed, against glass, and damaged. But I will take them to a frame shop and get them as well cared for as possible. The only thing the lady at the church knew was that they were in an estate and there is an old sticker on the back of each one from a frame shop in Hawaii. The faded out signature could be John Fulton!! but there is an additional name after those two.

[agilebasenji]

@Holly:

Wow! Thank you for the info. How do you know all this? It's wonderful! And I thank the rest of you for your advise as well, for they are poorly framed, against glass, and damaged. But I will take them to a frame shop and get them as well cared for as possible. The only thing the lady at the church knew was that they were in an estate and there is an old sticker on the back of each one from a frame shop in Hawaii. The faded out signature could be John Fulton!! but there is an additional name after those two.

Good, they deserve care.

A print is a copy of the original. The original will (usually) be signed. Sometimes the print is also signed by the artist, or it might be signed and numbered. So, let say they have a run of 300 prints. There will be a sig from the artist from the original, then he will do a sig on the print and put 1/300 on the first one; 2/300 on the second and so on. not that i think these prints had a 300 run.

[tlish]

super cool find!

[curlytails]

WOW How lucky to come across something like that! And thank you for sharing your find!

[Voodoo]

Nice! Why don't I find things like that. :p
Take good care of them and enjoy them!

[DolceMomma]

Wow. What an awesome find!!!!

[DebraDownSouth]

WOW! They are fantastic.

REALLY big important advice. DO NOT CLEAN til you let professional evaluate. Sometimes just cleaning them up can make them nearly worthless. Get professional advice on them. Wow. Congrats on such a wonderful find!

[Holly]

Thank you all for your very helpful advice and for your happiness for me. I will let you know what I find.:o

[MacPack]

Agree with all of above! Be sure your frame shop knows how to 'restore', or care for valuable vintage prints. Restoration can be relatively expensive, but adds to the value of your
prints in the long run. You are indeed lucky to have found these prints, treasure them! It may be a sign that you will be 'basenji people' forever!

[LindaH]

@MacPack:

Be sure your frame shop knows how to 'restore', or care for valuable vintage prints.

I could be wrong, but I doubt that a "frame shop" will know anything about restoration of pictures; however, they may be able to give you a lead to a restorer. Or, if they can't, check with museums that deal mainly in art work or even places that sell art work (as opposed to places that just frame art work) and ask them to refer you to a restorer.

[Rivermoon]

WOW, those are amazing..what a find!! I hope the restoration goes well…enjoy them!!!

[bewler]

So cool! Lucky you!!!!!

[wizard]

I agree with LindaH. I work in a museum (natural history not art) and you need to contact someone who restores paintings not just a framer. You have a wonderful find and something that can be passed down for generations to come. But they need to be properly cared for. I don't know anyone in Florida but you could contact the Midwest Art Conservation Center for help: info@preserveart.org or their website: http://www.preserveart.org/