Oil on canvas on board, unsigned, charming folk art half-length portrait of a boy with book and white collar seated on a fancy chair, drapery and window beyond, presented in a later frame.

SS 30.5 x 26.5 in.; DOA 36 x 32 in.

Samuel T. Taylor was active as a portrait painter in Powhatan, Buckingham and Henrico counties in Virginia during the mid-19th century. A pair of portraits attributed to Taylor, featuring Captain Thomas Trent, Jr. of Appomattox County, VA and his family, were acquired by the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum in 2002.

Portraits by Taylor do not often come up on the auction market. The last was a portrait, circa 1840, of Mary Catherine Robinson Trainer, sold at Sotheby’s New York, "The Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Henry P. Deyerle," May 26-27, 1995, lot 715. The facial features and angle of Mary Catherine's head bears a strong similarity with the young boy's portrait presented here. Both portraits also illustrate Taylor's interest in a visually interesting and complex composition.

Several abrasions around perimeter of painting; scattered in-painting; ready for display.

$1,000 - 3,000