Rare watercolor trinket box New England, 1820-1830

Rendered in watercolor on paper on pasteboard

Jean W. Fussenich, Litchfield, Connecticut
Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Cambridge, Maryland
Sotheby Parke-Bernet, "The Garbisch Collection, Volume IV," May 23-25, 1980, lot 893

"Women Only: Folk Art by Female Hands," New York, American Folk Art Museum, April 6-September 12, 2010
"Compass: Folk Art in Four Directions," New York, The South Street Seaport Museum, June 20-October 7, 2012

American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum, p. 106, fig. 69

Some minor discoloration and splits in paper in the edges; splits around edges; bottom board weak.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Early-nineteenth-century trinket boxes were most often painted and decorated by young women for their own use, and the octagon became a particularly popular shape for the boxes about 1820.¹The typical decoration featured floral sprays, bucolic pastoral scenes, picturesque ruins, and other romantic landscapes. The delicate watercolor scenes were either first painted on paper and then applied to the box, whether it was wood or a pulpboard of some sort, or painted directly on the box after the paper had been applied. As in other schoolgirl arts, the imagery was usually copied or traced from a print or another source.

This example is painted on paper that has been applied to a homemade box formed by hand-stitching the stiff paper top, bottom, and sides together. Each surface is covered with paint-decorated paper, and the edges are bordered with paper strips painted a contrasting color. The decoration on the top features an oval reserve containing a crenellated tower flanked by two lower structures set in a landscape. While the architectural image appears to have been done with the aid of stencils, the trees on either side are sponge painted. The faceted sides display a cornucopia, doves, shells, urns of flowers, and grape clusters in a combination of stenciled and freehand painting. -S.C.H.

¹ Little, Neat and Tidy, p. 67.