Lovely memorial drawing of sandpaper, charcoal and marble dust.  A tall memorial with an eternal flame sits atop a hill, surrounded by a fence.  The silhouetted figure of a woman holding the hand of a child stand just outside the fence and a man stands at the foot of the hill.  In the far right background is a body of water with numerous, indistinct boats.  AT the side of the water is a house.  The sandpaper drawing is housed in what may be the original paint decorated frame which measures 10" x 12".  It is in very good condition with just a few very light spots in the center (barely noticeable in person) and a couple of light scratches.

There is a memorial pamphlet attached to the reverse of the frame of Captain John Botsford.  A modern written inscription on the card backing says "Botsford Burial Place, Cicero Onondaga Co. NY".  There is, indeed, a Capt. Botsford buried in Onondaga County, in the Cicero Cemetery.  However, neither the cemetery nor his headstone look anything like this.  The Capt. Botsford buried in Cicero did not die in 1892 as the pamphlet states--his tombstone says he died in 1902.  Further, the clothing on the people depicted is circa 1850, much earlier than Botsford died.  Thus is the reason we must always doubt identification provided by later written inscriptions and family history.  It's kind of like that child's game played where the children all sit in a circle and one whispers a secret to her neighbor and the secret gets whispered around the circle.  By the time it comes back to the beginning, it has changed totally.  Human memory is flawed.....

A lovely piece of American folk art....even without an identification.

(#4382)     Sold