About 25 1/4" x 31 1/2". I've had this for some time along with the mystery of exactly where it is from, which is now solved although unfortunately due to an obituary posted since the last time I made any attempt. Along the bottom is inscribed "Queen Street" which might have been from any number of eastern cities but it is from the closest Queen Street to where I got this which was Norfolk, next to Portsmouth, Virginia. It is signed "Corky" Spence (E. C. Spence was his name) and we discover he was a mail carrier in Portsmouth. I have wondered why a painting of an apparently insignificant house found its' way into a nice frame like this, and it is still not impossible that it was connected with some famous person. But we also find that the son of the artist ran a frame ship in Portsmouth for some decades and my guess is that this was the father's house, perhaps right after the war when the family got started. This house is unlikely to have survived much longer and was likely one of the older houses on the street at the time it was painted. (Which is watercolor on illustration paper).

Artistically this is not badly done; the horizontals and the verticals are straight, it is simple but accurate and effective. As an architectural record it is a good representation of a tidy little coastal bungalow such as were popular in the first half of the last century. Queen Street is one of the older streets in Portsmouth and has probably always been residential. Most of the houses there now were built from the late 1950's through the early 1970's. The obituary for the artist's son says they lived in Parkview (map shown in photo shows that neighborhood along with Queen Street) so that pretty much pins it down.

The inlay mats are shot but the painting doesn't appear damaged. The inner inlay mat is sliding around a bit. The glass is uncracked and although some might want to refinish the wood I would leave it just as it is, it has just the right aged look to it. The coloring of the painting is subtle and subdued but I am sure that with the right shade new inlay mat or mats this could make a nice enough looking piece. I cannot say it is professional quality, it is more like reasonable amateur. But it is far from badly done, and it has the not-to-be-diminished appeal of being a record of part of this country and history that otherwise would stand as unknown.

SHIPPING these days is by size and distance more than weight. If all you collect is artwork, it can be shipped very inexpensively without the frame. WITH the frame it isn't too bad if you are not too far away (and you can pick it up if that is possible for you) but if you are out west then with the frame it is probably going to run $60 or more.