Here is an absolutely adorable oil on tin folk portrait of a young girl with her doll in her arms and her ABC book on the floor. The auburn-haired child sits on a wood chair sitting upon a patterned carpet. She wears a white muslin dress with an empire waist, short puffed sleeves and a ruffle at the bottom of her sleeves and at her hem.. The doll in her arms wears a long blue dress and blue bonnet with a yellow ribbon tied at the top. The girl wears a coral necklace and ankle length red boots. I love the dark background that is somewhat lighter to the girl’s proper left and shows her shadow on the floor and the wall. I also love the way the colors of red, green, yellow and white pull together the composition of the girl, her book and the patterned carpet.

The back of the tin has naïvely painted fruit and leaves and an inscription identifying the girl as “Catherine __esher [?] Ellcott taken at 2 ½ yrs old when her hair was auburn and very ____ ____”. She resides in a period gilt Sully frame that measures 10 ¾” x 9 ¾”. The painting is in excellent condition and has had a light cleaning.

Circa 1820.

(#5679)    POR