CHECK THE BACKS OF OLD PAINTINGS

A 5-foot-long painting was sold at a recent show after the dealer realized it had been cut in half and framed into two paintings. He restored the two paintings to the original size. This was not an unusual thing for a dealer to do in the 1950s. Unimportant pictures were cut into smaller ones--a landscape, a portrait, anything that looked like an attractive painting for over the sofa. Look carefully at the back of a painting and the way the painting has been stretched. The canvas should have an unpainted edge that curls around to the back of the stretcher. A painting that goes over the edge has probably been trimmed.

ROBERT E. LEE PICTURE

Q: This picture of Robert E. Lee painted on a tin "tray-like" frame has been in my wife's family for several generations. It has the inscription "compliments of Dr. D. Jayne & Sons, Philadelphia, Pa. USA." Can you tell me the history of this antique?

A: Dr. David Jayne (b.1798-d.1866) was a doctor in New Jersey who began making patent medicines in the 1830s. He moved the business to Philadelphia in 1850, where he built the tallest building in the United States. Dr. D. Jayne & Sons was founded in 1855 by Dr. Jayne, one of his sons, a nephew, and his brother-in-law. After Dr. Jayne died in 1866, the company was called Dr. D. Jayne's Family Medicines. The original medicines continued to be sold until at least the 1930s, though some of the names were changed and the ingredients modified to comply with the 1906 Food and Drug Act. Your self-framed picture on tin of Robert E. Lee in his Confederate General uniform is similar to several other versions that were made about 1863 and distributed as ads in drugstores. The 24-by-36-inch size is worth more than $800.

ATTIC TREASURES

If you move into an old house, check the attic. A family in Cincinnati called an antiques dealer to take a look at the belongings in their old house to see what could be sold. Not much till the attic. There they found crates packed with 77 paintings by Thomas Corwin Lindsay (1839-1907), a listed American painter and a distant cousin of the homeowners. Estimated value: about $250,000. The paintings have been cleaned and are being sold at Eisele Gallery in Cincinnati through April 18.

WHO OWNS THE CHAIR?

Who owns a chair taken from a dumpster? The police have decided that a Frank Lloyd Wright chair offered at auction wasn't stolen from S. C. Johnson Company. The chair, along with two others, had been "rescued" from a dumpster, then used for two years in the new owner's garage when he did repair work. He tried to sell them at two rummage sales then listed them on eBay. The chairs, some of the hundreds made in 1936 for the Johnson offices, sold to a dealer for $500, then at least one was sold to Wright Auction House in Chicago which put it up for sale. It brought $12,000. Some of the set of chairs are still in use at the company.

A bargain $280 was paid for a miniature painting a few months ago by a London art dealer. Research has shown that the miniature was by John Trumbell of Connecticut and is worth about $22,000. It's a 1793 picture of a Philadelphia lawyer. No news of how the dealer plans to sell it.

Marklin, the model train maker in Germany, was part of a private equity deal in 2006 but it has filed for bankruptcy. Restructuring failed because the company could not get new credit from the banks. Marklin hopes to use the time to restructure more effectively and save the company. The company was founded in 1859.