The Buchanan home in the 19th century, with lights on inside, on front porch and lamppost in right foreground. A woman in a pink dress and bonnet is being assisted as she alights from a black horse-drawn carriage. The man helping her is attired in a formal black suit with top hat. The driver and a third gentleman are seated inside the carriage. Although flowers cascade from a planter in the foreground, the orange leaves indicated fall.
The artist signed Florence Taylor 1970 on lower right beside lamp post.
Written on the back: "Purchased at Wheatland Fallfest Auction held in front of building 5 October 1978. From Wheatland Collection. Used as cover illustration on 36-page booklet "Tour of mansion in color." Hung in the Florence Starr Taylor Show at The First Presbyterian Church, Lancaster Town Fair, October 20 and 21. 1980. (Unknown initials)
Also, taped to the back are newspaper clippings: articles/obits and funeral notice.
Watercolor portrait of a woman, facing viewer, looking to viewer's left. Brown hair and brown eyes, wearing metal-rimmed eyeglasses. Below pink garment, artist signed "Bertha Rockwell '78."
Donor Regitz writes that this woman may be a Steinman family member.
Brown overall--dark brown edges on reverse. Liquid stain lower left edge on reverse. Front lower left stain on both sides. Lower left corner (2.5" on side x 2" on bottom edge) broken from the painting.
Pastel of Hazel Dell Brown (1892-1982) by Florence Starr Taylor. Brown was former chief of interior designer for Armstrong for 36 yrs (1921-1956) and lived in Lancaster. Signed in pencil at bottom right corner: "Florence * Taylor".
Inscription on home-made brown paper envelope attached to paper backing is: "To Richard Hopf from Hazel Dell Brown 1975". Envelope is empty. Paper sticker at top of Stack's Art Shop on W. Walnut St., Lancaster.
Painting of young, uniformed Civil War "soldier", posing in front of a cannon & American flag and leaning on a fluted pedestal with urn. Painting done a paper 5 3/8" x 6 1/2" piece of paper paste-mounted onto a larger piece of paperboard within a double-line border. Below image is a hand-painted cartouche with "Regimental Bugler, A.F. Shenck, / 9th Penna. Vet. Calvary, / Aged 14 years". Outside of border at bottom left is painted "PRESENTED TO A.F. SHENCK ESQ., / BY REDMOND CONYNGHAM.
Note: Redmond Conyngham (1863-1929) was a Lancaster attorney as was Shenck (8-16-1846 to 4-1-1921). This presentation piece appears to have been a gift and tribute to Shenck, honoring his Civil War service, suggesting a friendship between the two colleagues.
Provenance
Note on card accompanying drawing/painting is: "D.A.R. gift / 1880s". This date seems doubtful since it suggests Shenck giving this presentation piece away while still a young man in his 30's or early 40's.
The Japanese Kimono (has been listed as "Japanese Print")
Description
Large oil on canvas painting of a seated woman wearing a Japanese kimono, according to the title. The subject is Helen Thurlow, a Lancaster/Greenwich Village-based Pa. Academy of Fine Arts-trained artist & illustrator.
On back: Signed at upper right corner; 2 provenance show labels/stickers from Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh
Survey done by Tom Ryan and Mike Heberlein states:
Painting: Signed upper right A. Traquair Lang, Auction #124 at lower right. Good condition (Note: Found on 06-28-17, a large 2" long puncture tear to right of subject's face.) Surface dirt, discolored varnish, minor cracking of paint (center right, center area of kimono).
Frame: Fair, minor scuffing throughout, painted gold.
Frame conservation needs: Minor touchup throughout.
Object ID
1951.013
Notes
All info via correspondence w/ writer/researcher Eve Kahn
This painting was exhibited in various shows, including the 1915 Panama-Pacific expo in California. It is pictured in a centennial book on p. 24 installed on gallery #65 wall and flanked by two more of her ptgs. See:
See Objects Photos for above image (in 1915 expo).
Subject Helen A. Thurlow (1889- ?) was the daughter of Thomas and Annie Thurlow of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, from 1904-1912, where Thomas Anshutz was head instructor. He painted her portrait, seated sideways, and the portrait is thought to be during Ms. Thurlow's student years. See:
Portrait of Helen Thurlow, pastel on canvas, c. 1910 by Thos. Anschutz
(Portrait sold by Hammer Galleries, NY, NY.)
Annie T. Lang was painted by her mentor William Merritt Chase in 1911. This O/C ptg. is owned by the PMA & has accession # 1928-63-4. The label reads:
"William Merritt Chase was an early pioneer of Impressionist aesthetics in the United States and enjoyed immense popularity during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A celebrated teacher, Chase likely first met his protégée Annie Lang (1885-1918) in 1901 when she enrolled in one of his annual summer schools on Long Island. Painted in the summer of 1911 outside Florence, Italy, while Chase was on one of his many extended sojourns in Europe, this portrait of Lang suggests the close, perhaps intimate, relationship between the two artists. The painting incorporates the rich fabrics, ornate décor, and elegant attire that characterize Chase's interior scenes".
Portrait of William Montgomery by Clinton Peters, made from a miniature.
Gold plate on bottom of frame: "COL. WILLIAM MONTGOMERY / 1756-1826"
Back of canvas: COL. WILLIAM MONTGOMERY, / BORN IN LANCASTER PA., 1747. / DIED 1826. / COPIED BY CLINTON PETERS IN / JUNE 1900."
Handwritten note on bottom of frame: "My great grandfather / Col. William Montgomery / of Lancaster Pa. / B. 1747 / D. Jan 4, 1826 & he married Ledalice Rojersona [?] / in 1791 / (See my Colonial Dames Chart / [?] John [?]
