Americana & Folk Art

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I'm really excited to offer this wonderful 18th century painted silhouette of a woman holding her sewing bag at her left wrist while holding her tatting shuttle in her right hand as she tats her lace right into her bag.  I love the contrast between the black painted head, dress, and bow at the nape of neck with the white and grey detail work of her hands, sewing bag, long curls of hair at her back and her richly tatted lace collar and sleeve cuffs.  The artist's to detail is wonderful through the composition.  I'm also excited with the lady's hedgehog style hair in which the top hair is frizzled over a pile of wool or horsehair for height and then terminates in long curled tresses below the nape of the neck.  It was not unusual for ladies to wear the top, frizzled hair powdered while wearing the long curls beneath the "hedgehog" top in their natural, unpowdered hair color.  An example of this wonderful late 18th century hairstyle may be found in Rufus Hathaway's wonderful folk art masterpiece "Lady with Pets".  Click here to be directed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's online image of Hathaway's wonderful painting.  I have never seen this hairstyle so well depicted in a profile painting.  This unusual and rarely found 18th century profile is painted on laid paper in the likely original Hogarth-style frame with brass hanging loop.  The early glass fronting the frame has lots of tiny bubbles.  There is fairly consistent overall browning to the paper.  That is to be expected considering she has lived atop an acidic wood backboard for more than 200 years.  I've laid a thin sheet of 100% acid-free acetate between the paper and backboard which should protect the paper from further acid-related damage.  Framed size 5 1/4" x 6 1/4".  Circa 1790.  Don't miss this folk silhouette masterpiece...she may disappear into my collection if you don't grab her up!

(#4623)     $2250

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