$27,255
American School, 19th Century Folk Portraits of Henry and Anna (Bellinger) Ehle of Chittenango Village, New York, c. 1838. Unsigned. Oil on canvas, sight size 29 1/2 x 23 1/4 in., in matching original black-painted molded wood frames. Condition: Original untouched condition with minor paint loss. Note: Henry Bellinger is portrayed holding a copy of the Chittenango Herald, and dated "October 31, 1838." The newspaper is also inscribed "Henry Ehle was born April 15, 1787." The background to the left is likely depicting the biblical story of Samson fighting the lion, and to the right a representation of the Chittenango Falls in the village where the couple lived. Henry's wife Anna is shown seated in a paint-decorated chair holding a red book, and wearing a fancy lace bonnet and gold jewelry, with a billowing tasseled curtain and a column behind her. A genealogy of the couple, compiled in Chittenango, New York, in 1980 accompanies the portraits. Provenance: Formerly in the early 1950s collection at Gnarlehedge House in Skaneateles, New York, a historical house built in 1810, originally occupied by the Livingston family, which after a time was a restaurant/museum called Gnarlehedge House in the early 1950s, now privately owned. A copy of a listing of the portraits at that restaurant/museum house accompanies the portraits. Literature: "Folk Art Here and There," The Magazine Antiques, August, 1953, p. 128. Minor paint loss around Anna's hair, face, bonnet ribbons, Read more…
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2012-03-04
