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Seeking your help with a puzzling portrait
By Clay Eals
Recently I met with Bremerton resident Dick Falkenbury, an activist and former cabbie who is best known for leading the failed Monorail campaign in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
He gave me a portrait that he picked up for $20 at a thrift store, and he thinks it might be of famous founder David Denny. It sits very loosely in a frame, as can be seen in the accompanying photo.
Dick merely wants me to find a good home for it. But he also is curious if there is a way to verify that it is of David Denny. All available photos of Denny show him with some form of facial hair, and this portrait does not. I’ve checked with experts at HistoryLink.org, the Museum of History & Industry and the Washington State Historical Society but found no definitive answers.
So to our blog audience, two questions:
- Do you think it’s David Denny?
- Where might be the best home for this?
If you have information or insights, please email me. Thanks!