Oil on canvas, unsigned, circa 1845, folk art portrait of a young girl in rose colored dress with white lace trim holding a hairbrush, a double strand of coral beads at her neck, her blonde hair fashioned as a single long barrel curl, presented in a later gilt composition frame.

SS 29.5 x 24.25 in.; DOA 36.5 x 31.5 in.

Estate of the late Zaner and Claire Sykes, Mebane, NC

Considered a member of the Prior-Hamblin School of Portrait Artists, William H. Kennedy's charming portraits are highly sought after. Born in New Hampshire in 1818, by 1845 he began advertising his "New Style of Portrait" in New Bedford and Nantucket, MA. By 1850, Kennedy had moved to Baltimore where he remained until at least 1871. It is in Baltimore that the strongest case is made for his inclusion in the Prior-Hamblin School as he maintained a studio several doors down from William Matthew Prior. See: Wertkin, Gerard C., ed. Encyclopedia of American Folk Art. New York: Routledge, 2004. This portrait shares several similarities with known portraits by Kennedy including the U-shaped delineation of the brows and nose, the dark shadowing around the tip of the the nose, and depiction of the coral beads.

Lightly cleaned and with spot touch-ups to dark ground; several small patches to the verso.

$4,000 - 6,000