AFA 18th Anniversary

2018 Antiques & Fine Art 115 In some cases, scarcity of time and money prompted some folk portraitists to render fashionable but very basic costume silhouettes repetitively, adding enough detail to persuade clients that they were getting individualized treatment. In this instance, the infant’s dress and the sheer white kerchief worn by Polsapianna Dorr have just enough detailing to offset the plainness of the mother’s costume and the background of the composition. Ammi Phillips (1788–1865) Polsapianna Bull Dorr (Mrs. Russell Dorr) and Maria Esther Dorr, Columbia County, N.Y., 1814–1815 Oil on canvas, 41⅝ x 33¾ in. Museum purchase (1958.100.15)