A suberb example of a theroem decorated family record made by Aurelia Austin.

A basket of fruit and flowers in a glass compote surrounded by butterfllies and blue birds employs both theorem and free-hand watercolor painting to enclose the family record of Elias Phillips and Maria Wilde. Birds, potted flowers, arches, and leaf-decorated columns are all drawn within a rythmically-lined border featuring rows of moons and centrally placed sun symbols, which are also used as corner blocks.

This is one of two known similar examples to employ both the theorem motif and a family record, although the other was not distinguished by the sun and moon border. They are thought to have been made in Fiskill, New York. The latest date recorded here was 1836.

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A small gem of a theorem. This vibrantly colored and whimsically drawn piece is filled with intensely painted leaves and fruit in a bright yellow basket with a rope-turned rim and a wrapped rattan handle and foot ring. Its moulded red-stained frame appears to be original (10 1/8 x 8 1/8 inches), and the work is signed on the front in mirror writing by its maker, Phebe Chase. Found in Vermont and made circa 1830.

A beautiful watercolor and ink theorem of fruit in a compote embellished with mica flakes and signed and dated by its maker, Mrs. M. C. Wlson, in 1860. The piece is distinctive for its purity of design set off by decorative calligraphic flourishes. In what appears to be its original mahogany frame with an inner gilt liner.

Schoolgirl needlework featuring the symbolic figure of 'Fame' holding her trumpet and standing within a landscape setting. This small work, only 8 1/4 x 9 inches including its original once gilded and now old white painted rope twist frame, is signed on the lower white silk border with its maker's name, Violet Pratt. Found in Belchertown, MA. Circa 1800.

A rare highly decorative example of a family record by Samuel Lawhead, the Heart and Hand Artist. Done in Dixfield, ME on September 30, 1853. This example includes images of a church and a willow tree and urn-topped tomb, as well as the signature heart and hand symbols.
Watercolor and ink on paper and in what is probably its original grain painted frame.

Metamorphosis or Puzzle Books

A pair of ink and watercolor picture books that achieve a sense of narrative by having their images and accompanying text literally unfold for the viewer. Loosely based on Biblical stories, they are examples of the role religion has always played as subject matter for art, but beyond that they are pictorially charmingly naive and highly decorative visual works.

American, first quarter nineteenth century.

Reference: see similar examples in "Expressions of Innocence and Eloquence: Selections from the Jane Katcher Collection of Americana", p.150.

Painted and stuffed velvet fruit still life.

An unusual composition of three-dimensional fruit and a compote drawn with mica flakes on a black background and framed in a shadow box.  Maine origin.  Circa 1870.  At least two other examples by the same hand are known.

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In 1830's the Kelloggs of Hartford, CT went into business producing hand-colored lithographs that were widely distributed and became the basis of many folk art watercolors.  Their prints, GRACE and WRATH, the parts of a pair entitled, HIEROGLYPHICKS OF A CHRISTIAN, are based on a Biblical passage from Luke, chapter XIII, verse VII.  In one image the fruits of faith warmed by grace and nurtured and protected from evil by angels is depicted, and here the tree is covered in green leaves and bears fruit given the names of the virtues- industry, patience, tenderness, goodness- and many others.  In the other, a tree watered by the devil is leafless and bears the fruit of an un-Godly lifestyle, such as jealousy, unkindness, and adultery. Dark clouds, lightning, and a human skeleton are pictured.
These watercolors are clearly based on this print source and were probably painted in the 1830's or 1840's.  Religious faith was a major source of inspiration for the folk artist, and the pictures survive both as decorative works of art and as testaments to that faith.

Rare needlework picture portraying a black family next to buildings bearing an "INN" sign. The figures include a girl, two men in coats with tails, and a young woman in a white dress. A fruit tree separates the couple, possibly signifying that it is their marriage being portrayed. Birds fly overhead, and there are flowers, potted plants, and a basket, in addition to decorative borders and an upper acrostic panel, which spells out vertically the name Eliza Meeker, presumably the maker of this work. Possibly northern New Jersey, circa 1825. In a period frame and conservation mounted.

'The Many Colored Pheasant of Japan', a watercolor and ink drawing 'Presented to Harriet Smith by her affectionate friend Harriet Duncan'. Beautiful color and drawing. Probably NE. Circa 1830.

Watercolor and ink drawing with gold highlights of an exotic bird.

Signed John M. Brown. Probably NE. Circa 1830.

Rare signed and dated example of a family record made for Adidan Sanborn-Rebekah Coffin by Moses Connor.

Inscription on the back reads: Boscawen June
22, 1829. By M. Connor of Cornish

Design elements include paired birds, decorative borders, vines and
hearts.

Illustrated in "By Good Hands: New Hampshire Folk Art", by Robert M.
Doty, p. 33, and included in the 1989-1990 exhibit for which this was
the catalogue.

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Family record for Jonathan Ray and Mary Craige and their nine children.  Made on June 15, 1831 and signed in decorative blocked letters, which are used throughout the record, 'By M. C.', for Moses Connor.  This is a rare signed example of this artist's work and displays the paired birds, hourglass, and paired hearts that are seen in the other known records by him.  In its original grain painted frame.  Henniker, NH.

Family record for

Edmund Tebbets
and
Elizabeth Rawlins,

who were married in 1771 and had two children before she died at age 39 in 1788. Edmund then married

Mary White

in 1789, and together they had ten children. This appears to be the largest known example of the work of

George C. Melville

to whom it is attributed. The work is from Farrington, Strafford County, New Hampshire, where it was found glued to a house door. Its decoration includes paired baskets of flowers, a winged figure, primary names in gilt-decorated block letters, and other vine and floral elements.

Circa 1800, 18 3/4" x 23 1/2" image size. Watercolor and ink on paper, mounted, and in a period frame.

"Heart and Hand Artist" family record for Ezekiel Hall and Jane Janson. Ink and watercolor decorated with the artist's signature symbols: a heart, a particularly well delineated hand, and the swaged and scalloped curtain used as a framing device. Barrington (Strafford), NH circa 1850's.

'Heart and Hand Artist' birth record for Ellen S. Joy, 'Born Feb 25th. 1849'. Watercolor and ink on paper and only 4 3/8 x 3 1/4 inches. Decorative letters and the heart and hand symbols are hallmarks of this artist's work. An example in the Karolik collection suggests the artist was Samuel Lawhead. Probably northern New England.

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Marriage announcement/record by

The Heart and Hand Artist,

(thought to be Samuel Lawhead), for Leonard W. and Parazina Newman. Dixfield, ME circa 1855.

A rare small size work by this artist, who is better known for his family records.

7.5" x 7.5" in a period frame.

Three visually dramatic and stylistically related watercolor and ink on paper family records that share characteristics that are not found on the documented work from any previously known school girl academy. The signed record by Serepta Munsill, who was born in 1803 in Torrington, CT, and the unsigned record of the Vail Family who resided in Amenia, NY, are designed around a central house motif with fences and trees in the yard, flanking vine-wrapped columns, upper panels that included a reference image to family trees or family histories, birds feeding fledglings in their nests, entwined hearts, and urn-topped monuments beneath willows.

Research indicates that both Munsill and Vail daughters were students (and in one case a teacher) at the Amenia Seminary, which was established in 1835 and whose first teacher was Miss Lavinia Barker. Hiram Vail is at various times listed as a trustee, steward, or agent for the school, and many CT girls were students there. The family records provide a rare opportunity to study work that seems to be the product of the school in Amenia but intriguingly suggests a possible stylistic genesis in CT, although one completely unrelated to the work of the nearby Litchfield Female Academy (the Sarah Pierce School), that one might expect to find as an influence on the work of girls from the Torrington area.

The recently acquired third and earliest example in the group (top photo), done circa 1805, is an unsigned example from the Samuel Judson family of Stratford and later Cornwall, CT. It appears to be a stylistic predecessor of the Vail and Munsill records. Although in rougher condition, it is beautifully drawn, and its upper panel, columns, and poetic verses contain the same elements as the examples with the elaborately detailed houses painted beneath the central genealogical information..

An uninscribed theorem-decorated family record with vibrantly colored vines and flowers. Circa 1830's and in great condition.

Watercolor memorial to Caroline Chestnut of Wilmington, MA., decorated with a garland of flowers, doves, a plinth, and a willow tree. Circa 1825.

Rare painting on cotton velvet of the Goddess of Liberty in what appears to be its original block corner tiger maple frame in an old surface.

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