MARY ANN WILLSON (WORKING CIRCA 1810-1845)

"Tow Sisters"

Details

MARY ANN WILLSON (WORKING CIRCA 1810-1845)
"Tow Sisters"
watercolor and ink on paper
11¾ x 10 in. sight; 13½ x 11 in. framed

Provenance

Elliot and Grace Snyder, South Egremont, Massachusetts
Sotheby's New York, June 23, 1994, lot 392
Sotheby's New York, October 19, 1996, lot 2

Literature

David A. Schorsch, "Frames Used on American Folk Paintings and Needlework, 1760-1880," The Magazine Antiques (October 1991), p. 576, pl. XX.

Exhibited

New York, "A Tributed to Excellence," David A. Schorsch, Inc., 1989

Lot Essay

Mary Ann Willson lived in upstate New York during the early 1800's, unschooled and somewhat reclusive, her work is strikingly colorful and dynamic in execution. While her subjects often feature the delightful simplicities of life, there appears to be an underlying intensity to her depictions.
Shown within the interior of a room, the reference to the "Tow Sisters" may have been intended to describe "Two Sisters."

A similar work of the same title is illustrated in both Jean Lipman, et al, Five Star Folk Art (New York, 1990), p. 46; and Robert Bishop, et al, The Knopf Collector's Guides to American Antiques: Folk Art (New York, 1983)

More from Important American Furniture, Folk Art, Silver and Prints including The Garbisch Collection from the Sky Club

View All