23-201 Folk Art Portrait Twin Girls with Kitten

Price: 750

Sold by Phillips and Durkin Antiques

23-201. American Folk Art Double Portrait of Twin Girls with Kitten, ca. 1840–1843. Charming watercolor and pencil portrait on paper of twin sisters Mary and Jane Hielsen, identified by an inscription recording their birth January 4, 1837, Jane at 2 p.m. and Mary at 3 p.m. The young girls stand hand-in-hand wearing nearly identical brilliant blue dresses with dramatically puffed sleeves and white pantalettes, one cradling a kitten while the other holds a small toy. Particularly appealing naïve treatment, with delicately drawn faces contrasting with the exceptionally strong blue of their dresses. American, probably Pennsylvania or Mid-Atlantic, circa 1840–1843. In a period frame, approximately 9½"h. x 8½"w. Very good condition.