Girl with Doll

Date1836

Artist John Bradley (fl. 1827 - 1847)

OriginAmerica, New York, New York City area (probably)

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 34 1/4 x 28 1/4in. (87 x 71.8cm) and Framed: 37 3/4 x 31 7/8in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1957.100.4

DescriptionOil portrait, full length of young girl in interior setting. The girl holds a large doll dressed in a empire style puff sleeved full length pink dress in her right arm. (Doll wears green sash) and the doll's pink bonnet in her left hand. Girl wears a rich blue dress, with straight below the shoulders neckline, and large puff sleeves to elbow. The dress is high waisted and extends slightly below the knees to reveal white stockings and matching blue shoes. Her skin is pinkish white,and she wears a three strand red coral bead necklace. Her hair is short, brown and curly, with light eyebrows, and almond shaped blue shoes. She stands against a brown background with a red curtain filling the upper left corner. She is standing on either a painted floor or carpet composed of orange and green medallions amd flowers in vertical strips. The lines of the floor converge to the back of the room giving the painting a sense of perspective. A grained doll's cradle is visible to the girl's right and to her left is a late empire footstool, grained with red covering and brass tacks.
Label TextSeldom in folk portraiture has the special relationship between a girl and her doll been so sympathetically portrayed. The small child's tight grasp of the doll, her wary glance, and her defiant stance lead one to wonder if she would have posed at all without the beloved object. Bradley's peculiar technique of highlighting the figure's outline is readily apparent along the child's shoulders and lower arms. His use of deep, rich color is illustrated by the jewel-like tones of he blue dress, red drape, and green and amber carpet. Bradley came to the United States sometime between 1820 and 1831, the date of his earliest recorded work. He may have been the John Bradley who arrived from Ireland on August 7, 1826, aboard the Carolina Ann. New York City directories show that Bradley worked as a portrait and miniature painter from 1836 until 1848 when his name disappears from the records. ‚
InscribedPainted in the lower left corner is "I. Bradley Pinxit 1836"
ProvenanceUnidentified owners in Kutztown, Pa., and St. Petersburg, Fla.; found in California and purchased from Edith Gregor Halpert, Down- town Gallery, New York, New York.