Figure 1.--This American boy was probably painted in the 1820s or perhaps 30s. We do not know who nhe is or whopainted him.

We have noticed a number of interesting paintings, mostly portraits. They are many portrais of couse because this is what early 19th century people wanted before the development of photography--portrits of themselves and their families. We have no idea who the artists are. Many may be artists who did not sign their works and are not well recognized. Even so they are valuable for HBC's assessment of clothing styles. We can only guess at the dates of these portraits. We would be very interested in any insights readers may have about these portaits, either the dating or aspects of the fashions illustrated.

Low-cut Ruffled Neckline (1810s)

We have noted boys wearing garments with low-cut neckiklines,sometime withj ruffled or other trim, in the early 19th century. These low-cut necklines were worn on both dresses before breaching and skeleton suits after breaching. The children wearing them are younger children normaslly up to about age 6 years although we have seen older boys as well. The boy here wears a lowcut jacket with ruffled trim as part of a skeleton suit. He looks abpout 3-4 years old. we might have guessed a little older, but his hair suggests a younger boy. He dfinitely is a boy because he is pictured with a book. In early paintings, books almost always indicated the child was a boy. At the time, the education og girls was normally considered of little importance. We are guessing that this portait was painted in the 1810s.

Skeleton Suit (1810s?)

We do not know who painted the portrait here, but it has been attributed to the American school. The boys wears a skeleton suit with a small round lace collar. We are also unsure how to date the portrait. We would guess about 1820, but are not at all sure about this and would welcome any reader insights.

Sitting Boy (1820s?)

This is a wonderful early oil painting portrait of a young boy (figure 1). This is an original oil on canvas painting that was later laid down on board. I believe it is an early "American School" painting but I am not sure. The boy is well dressed and sitting on rocks at the edge of a stream. There are flowers blooming near and a distant city visible in the background. He has a confident look on his face with one eyebrow slightly raised. The portrait is not dated, but we might guess about the 1820s, in part because of the open collar.

Purple Velvet Dress (1830s?)

We know knothing about this portrait. The artist and the children are unidentified. The artist seems reasonably proficient, although we would say he did a better job with the girl's face than yhe boy's face. It almost certainly is an American portrit. The vegetation suggests the South to us. The portrait was for sale in a North Carolina auction. We are not sure about the date, but would guess the 1830s. The children look to be an older siter and a younger brother. Both children wear dresses with some similar stylistic details.

Baloon Sleeves (1850s)

Here we have a portrait of an American boy about 8-9 years old by an unknown naive artist. Unfortunately the boy is unidentified. And we have no idea where in America the boy was from. He wears a jacket with short sleeves and ballon sleeves. Note the lacing on the sleeves. We are not entirely sure sure when the portrait was painted. I think it is clearly pre-Civil War. We suspect the 1850s, probanly the early 50s. We think the 1840s is also possible, but we do not know enough about the 1840s to say yet. We have not found any photographs with a jacket and skeeves just like this which is one reason we think the late 40s or early 50s is the approximate time the portrait was painted. This would be the years that the baloon sleeves were popular. We are less sure about the laceing. The small collar is also notable. This was a popular style in the 1850s and 60s.

Blue Dress (1860s?)

Here we have a watercolor. The boy is unidentified and we have no idea who the artist was. It is undated, but we would guess it was painted during the 1860s. The puffslleves under the sleeves of the dress were a popular style in the 1850s and 60s. The boy is pictured with his drum wearing a blue dress. The dress has black stripe detailong on the long sleeves and repeated on the front of the skirt. The boy has pantalettes and short socks. His hair is down to his ears.

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Created: March 2, 2002
Last updated: 7:50 PM 12/8/2006