How can one tell if an old piece of art is an original or a print?

Question

The artist is from the 1870's and her name is Lilly M. Spencer.

Answer 1

The magnifying glass is a good suggestion. If you are talking of a painting, then you should be able to see the different layers of paint on the paper. If you are talking of an etching, then you should be able to see the ink lines on the paper. The surface of a print is much smoother. With a litho things are not so easy.
But you could always ask an expert, of course.

Answer 2

...use a Good mag glass a print has small dots of transparent colors red yellow and blue overlapped to form the rest of the colors that you see.... a painting will have a layered look and most are relatively uneven when most printed surfaces are relative smooth with the exception of some silk screen and several other types of fine art prints not to be confused with mass reproduction prints. so look for the dots on the print with a smooth surface and you will be correct the majority of the time/

Answer 3

I would think a painting would have dabs of paint and brushmarks. A print would be smooth.

Answer 4

get a magnifing galss and look closle at it does it look like paint? or does it look printed

Answer 5

cut it in half, check paper quality