Figure 1.-- We know virtually nothing about this portrait. The artist and the children are unidentified. The artist seems reasonably proficient, although we would say he did a better job with the girl's face than yhe boy's face. It almost certainly is an American portrait. The vegetation suggests the South to us.

We know virtually nothing about this portrait. The artist and the children are unidentified. The artist seems reasonably proficient, although we would say he did a better job with the girl's face than the boy's face. There would seem to be some difference in the age of the children. We would guess that the girl is about 15 years old and the boy about 6-7 years old, but this is only a rough guess. It almost certainly is an American portrait. The vegetation suggests the South to us. The portrait was for sale in a North Carolina auction. We are not sure about the date, but would guess the 1830s. The children look to be an older sister and a younger brother. Both children wear dresses with some similar stylistic details. Both dresses are made with low necklines. The boy's necklline is almost to his shoulder and is trimed with lace as is the sleeves. Both dresses have baloon sleves. The boy's dress is shorter than his sister's dress. This may be a reflection of age rather than gender. As far as we can tell his dress is no different in style from what a sister his age would wear. The material of the two dresses look different. The boy's dress looks to be a velvet dress.

Artist

We know virtually nothing about this portrait. The artist is unidentified. The artist seems reasonably proficient, although we would say he did a better job with the girl's face than the boy's face.

The Children

The children are also unidentified. The children look to be an older sister and a younger brother.The setting suggests to us that they lived on a plantation. Their clothing certainly suggests that there family was wealthy. There would seem to be some difference in the age of the children. We would guess that the girl is about 15 years old and the boy about 6-7 years old, but this is only a rough guess.

Location

It almost certainly is an American portrait. The vegetation suggests the South to us. The portrait was for sale in a North Carolina auction.

Chronology

We are not sure about the date, but would guess the 1830s. We are not at all sure about this. The baloon sleeves in particular are a stylistic detail that should be helpful in dating the portrait. We have some information on 1830s dress styles. The pose here rather obscures the waistline, but the dresses do not look like straigt falling Empire dresses which leads us to believe that the 1830s is the most likely decade.

Figure 2.-- This enlargelent provides mpre detail on the dresses and lace trim. Also notice the girl's coral necklace. Click on the image for another enlargement.

Clothing

Both children wear dresses with some similar stylistic details. Both dresses are made with low necklines. The boy's necklline is almost to his shoulder and is trimed with lace as is the sleeves. Both dresses have baloon sleves. The boy's dress is shorter than his sister's dress. This may be a reflection of age rather than gender. As far as we can tell his dress is no different in style from what a sister his age would wear. The material of the two dresses look different. The boy's dress looks to be a velvet dress. The boy was probably breeched sometime after the portrait was done. The portrait may have been done in fact just before he was breached. Notice that the girl has a hat and wearss a necklace. The boy has short hair and hoes not have a hat.

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Created: June 10, 2004
Last updated: June 10, 2004