This super folky c. 1860s watercolor is challenging to photograph (there's lots of glare in these images), but I'm really taken with it, and it's the sort of thing that, for me at least, sets the imagination wandering. Most curious is this girl, done on white paper collaged onto the painting, with long, curly, pencil drawn hair and earrings and one arm extended in front of her, finger pointing ahead. There are at least four more layers collaged on top, including several layers of skirt, the gray one folded in pleats, and finally a crepe paper shawl, which appears to have been literally wrapped around her before she was pasted down.
The watercolor landscape she is set amid (with stream running through the middle of it which she seems ready to magically float across) is shaped like two overlapping hearts, with tabs at top, which make me wonder whether this was made as the front of a valentine, with the back half one attached at the tabs. In any event, it's been in this black painted wooden frame for a very long time, and I personally would leave it just as it is.
Framed: 12 1/4" x 10" x 1 1/4". Visible image: 9 3/4" x 7". Overall good condition, with some small scattered stains. The frame is in good condition, with some small dings and bits of paint loss here and there.
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