Portraits

Antique Folk Portrait Lady in White -- With An Extra Finger
  • Naïve American watercolor portrait of lady in white with blue pops of color. The folky lady’s blue eyes, blue ribbon and sash as well as the blue background really make this folky portrait sing. Her white dress has puffy (i.e. stuffed) sleeves, a rounded neck that sits low on the shoulders, a pleated bodice and is sashed at her natural waist. Her brown hair is pulled into a knot held at the crown of her head by two huge tortoise shell combs and she has tight curls surrounding her face. Her lips are ruby red and her thin eyebrows arched. The artist shows us her tiny hand which seems to have an extra finger! I love the tiny hand and the extra finger reminds me of an American folk portrait that was on display at the Winterthur Museum exhibition, “Faces of a New Nation: American Portraits of the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries” in 2009. As the paintings conference I attended was given a tour of the exhibition, the curator pointed out that one of the portraits had an extra finger and no one had noticed it for decades. I delight in these small anomalies that spend years being unnoticed in folk art! The fact that her mouth is slightly askew also makes me smile and enjoy the painting even more. The portrait is circa 1820 and is housed in a period wood frame with an inner cove that is molded to look like a slip and is gilded. The frame is about 30 years or so later than the painting. Framed size 5 1/8" x 4 1/4". A delightful piece of 19th century American folk art.

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