[Smith, Jessie Willcox] Four Vintage Photographs

A collection of four photographs taken by Smith, preserved in a contemporary brown envelope, with the following written in holograph in what looks to be Huger Elliott's hand (husband of Elizabeth Shippen Green) ìE.S.G. in Waste Basket Hat, and H.E. & E.S.G. posing for JWS at Cogslea. Three of the photos are of Elizabeth Shippen Green wearing a ridiculous waste basket hat, showing her approaching the front door of a house, ringing the bell, and presenting the woman of the house with her card. The three cohorts at COGSLEA, Smith, Oakley and Green were known to stage all sorts of comical scenes, sometimes caught on camera, as this series shows. The fourth photo is of a little girl posing with a handful of flowers. This is presumably one of a group of photos she would have taken of a child as part of a commission to paint a portrait of her. The child in this photo appears to be the same little girl pictured in Schnessel, page 207. Schnessel states that the portrait was rejected by the girl's parents and hung for years in Smith'a home. Photos measure 5 by 7 inches. A rare and exceptional group of images of the private life of one of America's great illustrators.

Price: $1,850.00   Item #3478