23-152 PA German Schoolgirl Drawing, ca. 1840

Price: 795

Sold by Phillips and Durkin Antiques

23-152. Pennsylvania German Folk Art Schoolgirl Drawing, ca. 1840. A charming Pennsylvania German watercolor and pencil drawing on paper, probably the work of a schoolgirl or young amateur artist, depicting three children at play beneath a stylized flowering vine. The brightly colored figures and scattered floral devices reflect the decorative vocabulary of the Pennsylvania German fraktur tradition while the unusual secular subject gives the drawing a particularly spontaneous character. Inscribed below "Mary Hofstater" with a pen flourish, presumably identifying the young artist or original owner. Southeastern Pennsylvania, circa 1835–1850. Some expected staining, creasing and edge irregularities, with remarkably strong retention of the original blue, green, red and yellow pigments. Housed in a simple period frame measuring 16½" x 12½".