Graphite and Watercolor Schoolgirl Portrait: Allie, c. 1873 box collection The leather strap is plenty

The leather strap is plenty large to fit an adult finger or two little ones

I do think it's pretty old though

but the gloriously radiant color of the hand-painted silk feels lush like a peach to me

backed with beautiful hand marbled paper

(The eyebrows are my favorite

Graphite and Watercolor Schoolgirl Portrait: Allie, c. 1873 box collection The leather strap is plentyFour of these I found together, only one of them dated on the back, locating them all I think in 1873. It seems they may each have been done by a different school girl each with a different name signed to the back, as well as a different subject named on the front. (Perhaps collected by a teacher?) A customer recently noted to me that naive drawings of this sort make her heart beat faster and the same is true for me, just pure joy. And hard to beat