oil on tin painting: civil war soldier and wife? help me figure out?

Reproductions can easily be faked. You'll need to show it to an expert to get a good idea of it's value. Maybe start by checking with your local public library, they should have books (remember those?) on art and collectibles...

There was a difference between the two sides and their sources of soldiers. The Royalist party comprised many landowners with large numbers of tenants and agricultural workers. All the evidence is that these workers were simply pressed by their landlords or employers, to fight on the side of the king. Therefore, the bulk of the Royalist army was untrained, unwilling and not very well disciplined. But there was a strong belief at the time that the king's party would prevail and therefore fighting on his side would be safe and working families would not suffer when the war was over. The Parliamentary party did not include so many rich landowners and a high proportion of the army were volunteers with strong religious beliefs, similar to those of the Pilgrim Fathers who settled America a few years earlier. At the start of the civil war, these bands of volunteers were not well trained or equipped, and somewhat also lacking in discipline. After all they were farm workers, merchants, artisans and tradesmen: not soldiers. But they had a much greater motivation to fight and win because their actions would be considered treason if Parliament lost, and their families would suffer for generations to come. Therefore, they fought with greater vigour. From January 1645, the Parliamentary forces were reformed and a volunteer professional (paid and trained) army was formed under the name New Model Army. These corps had uniforms, standard weapons and equipment, rations and lodgings, and a rigorous training programme. Some infantry regiments did have to be filled by impressment but still soldiers were paid and worked to a book of regulations that promised decent treatment and conditions. From this point onward, the Royalists could not match the Parliamentary army and resorted to employing foreign mercenaries. The impressment of farm workers had to stop because food production was being affected and by late 1646, the two armies were (a) the professional volunteers for Parliament, and (b) largely foreign mercenaries for the Royalist party. Shortly afterwards, the first stage of the civil war came to an end with the "escape" of the king to the Isle of Man. His defiance of Parliament led to the Second Civil War, which ended in his capture, trial and eventual execution in January 1649. So the armies were not feudal hoards. True feudalism had died out in England by about 1371. Some civil war soldiers followed their employers; others followed their consciences - on both sides. By the end of the Third Civil War (basically against the Scots) in 1652, the English army of Parliament comprised professionally trained and paid regiments, and it has remained that way ever since. The Wiki page below is not clear on soldiers' backgrounds but explains much of the timetable and activites surrounding the two armies.