I love pastel portraits and this American School portrait is a beauty.  The young lady sits in profile, her brown hair braided and coiled at the back of her head.  He has beautifully defined wispy tendrils of hair curling around her face and falling at the back of her neck.  She wears a white dress with a pink sash below her bust.  The sash is tied at her back.  The sash and bow is somewhat obscured by the frame.  I've shown her framed and unframed so you can see the difference.  Her dress has beautiful translucent lace at the neckline.  She has a very delicate gold hoop earring.  The woman is drawn/painted on laid paper attached to the original stretcher.  The period (possibly original) maple corner block frame has a chamfered wood backboard.  The early glass is beautiful with lots of bubbles and waves.  Spacers keep the paper from touching the glass.  I also think that the painting may have been sprayed with a fixative because the pastel does not come off to the touch.  Condition is wonderful but for some scattered foxing.  Framed size is 11 3/4" x 9".

A super early American portrait in a super frame.  Circa 1810.

(#5400)     Sold