Pair of Portraits of a Man and Woman

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Pair of Portraits of a Man and Woman

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Pair of Portraits of a Man and Woman - SOLD
Anonymous artist, Massachusetts, c. 1750-1770
Oil on canvas, each 31 x 26.75 inches
Original black painted frames

These distinctive portraits were the subject of research by Nina Fletcher Little and Don Walters in 1980-1981. Their findings are recorded in a series of letters. Little wrote, "The portraits of which you sent photos were indeed in our collection. In 1969 our museum solicited significant contributions for an auction which they were sponsoring and we donated the pictures at that time....I purchased them in 1955: Bought from Miss Frances Loomis, Springfield, Mass. Came from her old family home in Shelburne, Mass. Said to have been painted by a member of the Wells family, although the identity of the sitters is not known... I thought certain aspects were most interesting, especially the wooden pegged pine strainers, the cross barred linen support, and the original one piece molded frames nailed to the fronts of the pictures." In describing these portraits, Walters observed, "They have that extraordinary flavor that ranks them high among the other truly creative examples of the best folk art.
The opportunity to acquire eighteenth-century American portraits of this caliber and presence is a rare privilege.

Illustrated
Advertisement for Kenneth E. Snow and Sons, University Hospital [Philadelphia] Antiques Show Catalog (1970), p. 52.

Frederick D. Hill, "Living with Antiques: The Captain Philo Beardsley House near Kent, Connecticut," The Magazine Antiques (February 1982): 462-467.

Winthrop Chandler and His Contemporaries: An Exhibition of Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century Folk paintings, David A. Schorsch, New York (1989), pp. 4-5.

Provenance
Bertram K. and Nina Fletcher Little Collection, Brookline, Massachusetts, 1955
Kenneth E. Snow and Sons, Newburyport, Massachusetts, 1969
Private collection, Connecticut
George E. Schoellkopf Gallery, New York, 1981
Marvill Collection, New York
David A. Schorsch, New York, 1995
Austin T. Miller American Antiques Inc., Columbus
Southern private collection
Exhibition
"Winthrop Chandler and His Contemporaries: An Exhibition of Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century Folk Paintings," David A. Schorsch, New York, 1989.

Michael Palmer Watercolor Windsor Comb-back Armchair

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