Charming Folk Art
Portrait of
Fashionable Ladies   

Probably Northeast, ca. 1810-1825. Watercolor on paper.

Attributed to Elizabeth Glaser, a contemporary of Eunice Pinney and Mary Ann Wilson who were among the earliest women artists to work in watercolor. This delightful portrait shows two elegantly dressed women (models?) in the fashion of the day. Was this for a fashion or advertising publication two centuries ago? The left woman wears a classical high Empire-waist gown with bold black linear ornamentation, puffed sleeves, long yellow gloves, and a feathered turban. Her companion holds a parasol in a vibrant green over-garment with a yellow gown beneath. Note the tiny folk art depiction of their feet.

Fine condition (minor repair upper left); period and likely original gilt frame, frame size about 9 inches tall x 7 ¾ wide.

Provenance: Sybil and Arthur Kern; private New York collection. Exhibited: "Reflections of 19th Century America: Folk Art From the Collection of Sybil and Arthur Kern", Museum of Our National Heritage, Lexington, Massachusetts, 1979-1980.