This one! I don't find a whole lot on ebay, but I do keep an eye, and though it was hard to tell from a few not so great photos, I had a hunch this was an antique sandpaper drawing, and indeed, it is! Sandpaper drawings were done in charcoals on paper or board coated with a fine grit, like sandpaper, often incorporating marble dust as well to lend more texture and shimmer. Most one sees are landscapes, but my favorites are drawings of other things, and nothing better to my eye than a super folky portrait of three playful kittens! Marvelous faces with fabulous expressions, and the whole drawing makes wonderful use of white--for eyes and whiskers and paws, plus that ball of string, with the string unwound enough to pass under the paws of all of them, literally threading the picture together. This terrific horizontal run of white circles along the edge of the stool, too, to represent upholstery tacks I believe. A very very charming thing!
Much better in person. Framed as found, I imagine original to it: 16 3/4" x 13 1/8". Sight: 14 5/8" x 11 1/4". Good condition, under glass, with a sort of cloudy area of white at upper left that seems perhaps product of an old water stain?
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