A Carved and Polychrome Paint-Decorated Female Bust, Probably British, Late 18th-Early 19th Century

Gregory and Alice Gulick, Middletown, New Jersey.

Remi Spriggs, “Living with antiques: An Americana collection in New Jersey,” Magazine Antiques (April 2005), 94-105;

Nancy Brannigan Painter, “Objects of Affection,” New Jersey Monthly (November 2006), 112-7;

Leslie and Peter Warwick, Love At First Sight: Discovering Stories About Folk Art & Antiques Collected by Two Generations & Three Families, (New Jersey: 2022), pp. 294-5, fig. 486a-b.

This portrait bust of a young woman bears the head and wings of an angel on the gold painted plinth below the portrait, possibly indicating she has died. She dons a Roman hairstyle; braided and tied in a bow over her forehead while two thick locks of hair steam out down over her shoulders, and wears a classically inspired dress, green with small, red flowers and a large classical medallion on her chest. There is a fitted piece of wood on the back of the figure which opens to reveal a large cavity carved into the body of the figure, possibly to contain letters and keepsakes. There is also an oval cavity right behind the locket between her bosoms where a portrait miniature could be placed.