Mystery handled pot

unnamed handled pot, unknown,  12" x 6", clay pot

I found this pot at a local thrift shop. It is very well done and unusual. There is a signature on the bottom, and if I knew what the name was, it would probably be easy to read. Unfortunately, I have no idea who the artist was. The last name may be "Beach".

Another view

Signature

Any help in identifying this artist would be appreciated.

Hotel Art?

 unnamed, H. Helgason, 10" x 8", oil on canvas

  Based on the amount of authoritative responses to my original post, I am updating this post in its entirety, instead of just adding an update section to the post.
  This is what I once thought was "Hotel Art", that is, art which was commissioned, or distributed, by a company that provided art to commercial institutions like hotels, motels, etc., perhaps copied from other works or maybe duplicated many times. A label on the back shows that the art was distributed by a company called Personal Preference Inc. (PPI) of Lisle, IL.
  Actually, PPI was a company that worked directly with artists to offer their original works to customers at "house parties", using a paradigm similar to that used for Tupperware parties of the 1950s. PPI used Tupperware's direct marketing strategy in which individuals contracted with PPI to present their wares, original art, at a house party. All of these art pieces had a PPI label verso, that contained PPI's contact information, the name of the person who brought the artwork to the party, an inventory number and sometimes the name of the person who purchased the artwork. All of the artwork was framed using frames made in Mexico. PPI worked mainly with unknown or new artists. Subsequently, some of these artists became successful, and even well known.
  I have other paintings, and a few collages, in my collection that were also distributed by Personal Preference Inc. of Lisle, IL, and all are quite well done.
  

Label

  Regarding the painting from my collection used as an example of PPI's wares, the artist has been identified as H. Helgason by a former PPI consultant who knew the artist, who was her mother's favorite artist. This may be the work of Hallgrimur Helgason, an Icelandic painter, writer, translator and columnist. There is a fairly lengthy Wikipedia entry for him and several YouTube videos featuring him. Helgason lived in Boston in 1985-6 and in New York in 1986-9 where he painted and exhibited and was apparently a starving artist with numerous occupations to support himself, so it does not seem implausible that PPI may have been one of them. He returned to New York, briefly, in 1995. Helgason later enjoyed, and enjoys, success as an artist, writer and poet. I am, though, still trying to confirm the identity of the artist who created this painting.

H. Helgason's Signature

California/Spanish mystery artist.

 unnamed, unknown, 10.75" x 8", watercolor

 I purchased this painting on ebay from a seller in California, so assumed it was by a California artist. Later, I spotted another work by this artist that was inscribed with the location of Granada, Spain and dated October 1967. The artist has a very unusual signature, which is totally illegible, but which I hope someone will recognize. The other watercolor was of Granada, Spain, from a distance, and I had to yoink on it with the Gimp image editor to get it squared up which probably somewhat distorted the proportions in an already poor photo. I did not purchase the second watercolor because the seller wanted too much for it, IMHO. Since my painting could also be a Spanish scene, I don't know if we are dealing with a Spanish painter or a Californian sojourning in Spain, or neither. Any help in identifying this artist is appreciated.

Fetching etching

 

unnamed, unknown, 6" x 8", etching on thin paper

I found this etching at a local thrift shop. It is on thin paper, perhaps just regular printer paper. I think it might be the artist's first test of his etching plate. It is really good, I think, and I suspect there are more copies of this etching out there. Unfortunately, it is not signed or marked in any way, so I'll have to hope that someone has seen another copy of this etching. Any help would be appreciated.

Bartsch smartsch.

unnamed, W. Bartsch, 15" x 18", oil on canvas

This was an ebay find. It was presented as the work of Wilhelm Bartsch (1871-1953) and the signature does somewhat resemble his signature, but this painting is done on a commercially produced American canvas, and Bartsch was a German painter with no records to indicate that he ever painted in the US. I doubt that this is his work.

The stretcher bears an 1886 patent date, but I doubt that this painting is so old. It more likely dates to around 1900-1920 and is in a European style. I think it is more likely the work of an immigrant named Bartsch, but would be happy to be proved wrong.

Polzer puzzler

unnamed, Joe Polzer, 9" x 15", watercolor

This was a thrift shop find. It is in a Mission style oak frame with wavy old glass and I think dates from the 1920s or 1930s. I could not find any record of this artist, though there were several men named Joe or Joseph Polzer in the early 1900s. This is a fairly decent watercolor, so likely not this artist's only work. There are some light pencil notations on the back of the watercolor, framing instructions and a name and address that reads "Mrs. J. Roth, 203 So 25th St., Call Wed.".  There is no telephone number, so my guess is that Mrs. Roth planned to call in person.

MYSTERY SOLVED!

I was contacted by Mr. Polzer's granddaughter and with her information and information from census and other records the following biography was created.

Joseph J Polzer Jr. was born on 18 September 1890 in Omaha,Nebraska, son of Austrian immigrants Joseph and Mary Weiss Polzer, and died on 7 September 1966 in San Gabriel, CA. He was married to Ruth Irene Roth on 6 February 1917. He was working as a painter in 1910 in Omaha. Joseph and Ruth were living in Rapid City, SD in 1920 where he was employed as an interior decorator. They were in Los Angeles by 1930 where Joseph was working as foreman, telephone. They had children Louis A and Jo Ann.  Joe was an active member of Telephone Pioneers and participated in local area art shows, especially during the early sixties around Alhambra, Temple City and San Gabriel, CA. He was active as a painter in oils and watercolors for most of his life, often selling paintings. He is buried in the Resurrection Cemetery in San Gabriel. According to his granddaughter, his signature changed over time. My painting was done early in his career. I will add him to the California Artists page of my art collection web site, since he lived and worked there for many years.

R. Hankey etcher?

unnamed, R. Hankey (?), 4.5" x 6.25", etching with watercolor

       The signature on this etching is hard to read and could be Henkey or Hevkey. There was a well known British etcher named William Lee Hankey, perhaps this is a relative? This small etching was framed by the Zepp Photo Supply store of Baltimore, which was founded in 1900 and in business until the 1980s. I am guessing this etching dates from the 1920s or 1930s. Any help is appreciated.