The Mystery Of A 100 Year Old Watercolor Kit 

This is fantastic, I’m so happy I was able to help! I also got a bit obsessed with this story and tried to find out more, especially how the box made it across the big pond 😊 I will try to summarise what I learned, maybe it will take a few comments… And what a wonderful idea to paint the house with his colours - it turned out beautifully!!

Wonderful commentary, Marty! I agree it is likely a Reeves palette. Next step is to frame your painting in a vintage frame and display it with the Paint box or in a shadow box. Make sure you sign it and someday someone else will have the collection and looking you up!

My grandfather, who lived in England, sent me Reeves watercolour palettes every year. We had left England when I was three. When I was eight, he sent me a black metal Winsor and Newton palette for my birthday. I think he was aware it was the last gift he would give me before he died from cancer. When I was 10, we moved cities in a company paid move and my mother tossed my beautiful watercolour palette out. Otherwise I would still have it. I remember repeatedly taking out the little pans of paint and marvelling at the names of the colours. Love this story about an English schoolboy, and what was very probably a cherished possession.

One of the best narrators in the game! I wish you narrated audiobooks because I'd snap those up. Sooo glad you are uploading frequently again. Love the history you share in your videos about people, products, companies and places you visit. Lovely house painting as well. You're a treasure, Marty.

Sadly it was frequent in Alfred's time for the child of an unmarried daughter to be brought up by his grandparents as their own, believing their Mother was their sister.( This happened in the past in my own family to give legitimacy to a child when an unwed mother would have brought real shame on all the family and also blighted the child's life.) I am however cheered that he was obviously loved enough to be given what was a quite an expensive good quality paintbox and so happy that times have now changed. What an excellent idea this was and a great painting. Thank you.

This was fun to watch. What a great antique to find. It really fires up the imagination about Alfred's life. Great job on the rendering too. Fantastic idea to paint the house.

Delightful picture, Marty! What a nice hommage to Alfred Matthews. I am glad you liked my suggestion! I also went down a rabbit hole and gound out Matthews seems to be a common name in Northern Ireland. Perhaps Mr Matthews left NI for his job and they settled in Alfred's mother's place? I ❤ everything about this story: the doscovery of the tin, the swatching, the community sleuthing and, finally, your lovely painting. I hope someone down Mr. Matthews's family line finds this and can share more.of the story. Thanks ever so much, Marty!

Voice quality, music, history, thoughtful commentary, beautiful painting: all add up to an extraordinary video. Thanks, Marty, for bringing us along in this adventure. You have a true gift for this combination of history, art and story-telling. I super appreciate it!! ❤

What an adventure through a time travel machine disguised as a palette! Nice drawing of the house.

This story is so fascinating. I love that you and your subscribers did so much research and were able to sketch and use the paints from the paint tin belonging to the subject of your research. So cool! Thanks.

I feel like you should do a painting of the palette too, as a companion painting to the house. For posterity. I absolutely love this story and video ❤

Thank you Mr. Owings. And thank you Alfred!!! 👉👦👈 🎉🎊🎉🎊

WOW! Just WOW! All of it. The story, the contributions of the viewers, your research, the painting. I wonder if descendants of Alfred see this video at some point. Awesome!

I love that he etched all that info on the tin...especially 'self portrait with cat' .Form V primary school would put him aged about 11 at that time :))I very much enjoying your vids about this :))

What wonderful fresh content, Marty. Thank you for taking us along for the ride!

Such an awesome story! It's so nice to appreciate something old and wonder about It's history!

I love everything about this so much! I teach technical theatre and love bringing together history and art. It's what we do in theatre to design shows. My colleagues share this passion too. Thank you for sharing this wonderful art history journey and tying it together with the found object. What a rare find and surreal experience! (RU-vid really needs a "love" option above just the "thumbs up".)

This has been great to follow. Love your rendering of the home.

❤❤❤❤ I loved this so much!❤❤❤❤ Thank you so much for sharing the painting and the story.

What a wonderful hommage!

Definitely enjoyed listening to the story while you created. Beautiful piece. Thanks Marty!

Loved this video Marty, thank you for sharing the adventure and your beautiful painting.

What a romantic story! Great idea for a video. Thank you for bringing it to us. And, thank you for a lesson in grisaille, Marty. Maybe in the near future you could continue using more of the colors in a painting. Hmm. Bournemouth landscape? Different angles (since you have a 3/4 right image)? I guess that you might not want to deplete these historic colors, but it would be cool to see more and hear more if additional info becomes available. Again, thank you! 15:59

Hullo Marty, I am enjoying watching this video and your voyage into the past and how it was sparked by a name and address on a watercolor palette that you purchased in a second hand shop! I thought your version of the home created from your curiosity and the paints in this old palette! Well done sir, thank you.

What a wonderful and thoughtful painting to create. You never know who this video may be passed on to . Thanks Marty.

Such a wonderful painting you've done and a tribute to this young boy. I think that it would be a wonderful idea for all of us to maybe at your name address and age at the time on the backs of our pallets. That way someday someone will know where they came from as well. Carrying the past into the future helps us to know more about where we came from and where we're going.

Beautiful picture and video. Those houses would have originally had a front garden with fence and a path up to the front door. I guess it will always be a puzzle as to how that paint tin ended up in America.

This is the best kind of content.

Marty, what a compelling video of the history and imagined life of a young boy and his watercolor palette from so long ago! You did a marvelous job and your viewers are to be commended on their contribution!!!! Thank you so much for taking us along on this wonderful journey!

This was a little, delicious poetry...

It's a detached house rather than a semi-detached (duplex) or terrace (rowhouse), so we can infer that the family was middle class and reasonably well off but not necessarily wealthy. Young Master Alfred would have attended a "public" (private) school rather than the local free school for working class kids, another indication that his family was of better than average means. Alfred was a grandson, legitimate or not, raised as a son of the (maternal?) grandparents. Perhaps his actual mother was a widow and Matthews was her married name. My story for Matthew is that he emigrated to the USA, had a family of his own, and when he passed away his heirs let his belongings go in an estate sale, where an antique dealer bought the paint set and perhaps other things. I would start looking for him in your own community. Perhaps he has descendants who might be delighted to see a portrait of their great-granddad's childhood home.

What a great mystery that must be solved!

I still have my watercolor from when I was 10 or so… it is over 50 years old. I replaced the paint in it and am still using it!!!

Wonderful story Marty!

That was lovely!

That was awesome ❤

We still use the word Miliner herein the UK.😁🇬🇧👍

💙 TY

Fascinating!

Why wouldn't Americans know what surname means? Lol I'm American and I knew. Js. Also, you're incredibly talented.