American School, mid 19th Century- Double Portrait: Two children on a terrace holding flowers, grapes and a toy horse and cart; oil on canvas, 83.6 x 59.2 cm. Provenance: Private Collection, UK. Note: The tradition of folk art flourished in America in the mid-19th Century, largely practiced by itinerant artists with little formal training. The increasing prospering of the middle classes precipitated a growing demand from rural families to acquire personal keepsakes in painted form, with children bing the most frequent subjects of such portraits. The children in the present work are exquisitely dressed and are situated in the descriptively painted terrace of their family home. As wasmon, each child is represented with an attribute or toy, in this case flowers, grapes and a toy horse and cart. Theposition and the artist’s handling are particularly reminiscent of works by Robert [Deacon] Peckham (1785-1877), who was celebrated for his portraits of children, as well as those by Joseph Whiting Stock (1815-1855).Please refer to department for condition report