[hazelhick]

I have an etching the has the following information on it:

Bottom left corner is a circle with an S Z and under those two letters is an L (all inside the circle) then the words 'moulin sur l'epte France'.

Bottom right hand corner is the name Paul Eeuule (or Emule) Lecouite (or Luouite or Lacouette).

On the upper right hand corner is the copyright circle and the words paris etching society n.y.

The picture is a watercolor etching of a river that has a grist mill with a water wheel. The mill is on the left hand side of the picture and it has two separate heights to the building and one of the buildings has a red roof. The left side of the picture is vegetation with trees. There is a small dam in the upper right portion running into a river that flows by the mill.

This picture hung on my grandmothers wall since the early fifties and now is in my home. Was interested in knowing where it came from and if it has any value.

Thank you for your time.

[hazletmom]

The artist is Paul Emile Lecomte, the etching is called "The Mill at Fourges". I also have it hanging up! The following is part of an email I had received while researching this a few years ago..
I believe that yours is from "Sydney Zoltan Lucas" out of NYC in
> the 1930's. This was a large art publishing house that offered
> affordable artwork to the public. They had a huge amount of artists in
> their "stable." Lucas used the "SZL" seal as well as "Camilla Lucas,"
> another subsidiary which was named for his mother.
>
> I did find out that Sydney Lucas made frequent trips to Paris from 1920
> up until the late 1940's and purchased etchings from many artists in
> Paris. I've found some artists were originally from other countries
> such as Austria and Belgium, but for the most part resided in Paris.
> Most of the editions were large about 1000 to 1300 etchings per plate.
> Lucas' boudoir art tried to compete with artists such as Icart and the
> boudoir pieces are still very collectible.
>
> Cliff Catania published a book on Boudoir Art and he has a bit of info
> on SZL etchings as well as some info on his web site:
> www.davidchasegallery.com/methods.htm. He did have a few SZL boudoir
> etchings for sale at one point.
>
> I've seen SZL scenic etchings sell on the eBay auction house for
> anywhere from $10 to $75 depending on the condition and subject matter.
> You could probably do a search on their web site to find out more.

Anyway, hope this helps!