Delicately Rendered 1880s Pennsylvania Folk Ink and Watercolor Ledger Drawing of Native American Chief (Copy) male portrait and most often

and most often

There is a bit of tearing /loss to the surface of the paper along the bottom edge and one stray hair suspended under the glass--no matter to my eye

To my eye just a gorgeous thing

murals by Dows are permanent fixtures in post offices in Hyde Park and Rhinebeck

but just enhancing its sense of objecthood a bit

Delicately Rendered 1880s Pennsylvania Folk Ink and Watercolor Ledger Drawing of Native American Chief (Copy) male portrait and most oftenThis is my favorite drawing I've had in some time, just the sort I go to Pennsylvania (and everywhere else) hoping to find. I know that it dates to right around 1880, and came from a ledger held by a young Burt Gemberling of Selinsgrove, Snyder County, MA. (Makes me think a bit of the drawings of Wayne Blouch, which I presented in an online viewing room in collaboration with Ricco Maresca a few years ago) Such a wonderful grace and delicacy to the ink