David A. Schorsch-Eileen M. Smiles Fine Americana

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David A. Schorsch-Eileen M. Smiles Fine Americana

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We buy, sell, and broker classic museum quality American Antiques.

10/13/2026

Bill Traylor’s unique artistry is fully realized in this charming and sophisticated portrayal of a black pig.

Now recognized as a towering figure of 20th-century American self-taught art, Bill Traylor was born into slavery on an Alabama plantation. His life spanned the antebellum years, the Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, the Great Migration, and the burgeoning of 20th-century urban Black culture. After he moved to Montgomery in 1939, at eighty-five years old, Traylor began drawing and painting on found paper. ⁠
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BILL TRAYLOR (circa 1853–1949)⁠
Black Pig⁠
Montgomery, Alabama, circa 1939–1942⁠
Poster paint and graphite on repurposed cardboard, 15 x 12 inches

10/06/2026

George Washington's Mount Vernon was a popular subject in schoolgirl art, evoking patriotic sentiment and advancing a national mythology. This painted worktable, which we previously sold to a private collector, was made by a girl attending a female academy in the early 19th century. It is included in the American Folk Art Museum's current exhibition, Locating Girlhood: Place and Identity in Early American "Schoolgirl" Art.

In the exhibition's accompanying publication by the same title, scholar William Huntting Howell notes, "The fact that this table was intended for sewing further emphasizes an explcit linkage between the domestic harmony and national politics."

Worktable
Possibly Maine, circa 1815-1825
White pine, maple, brass k**b, original painted decoration, 28 x 23 1/2 x 17 inches

10/04/2026

"The highly focused gaze of [the girl in this portrait] evokes the level of commitment and persistence required of Black students in order to navigate educational spaces, even in the supposedly more tolerant North," writes American Folk Art Museum curator Emelie Gevalt.

This striking portrait of a young African American girl wearing a merit medal and holding a book demonstrates the value of educational achievement in free Black communities of the period. We sold it two years ago to a collector, and it is now included in the American Folk Art Museum's current exhibition and publication, “Locating Girlhood: Place and Identity in Early American "Schoolgirl" Art.”

Young African American Girl
Probably Tompkins County, New York, circa 1840
Oil on poplar panel, 17 3/4 x 13 1/4 inches, in original gilt frame

10/02/2026

Some examples of schoolgirl art that we have sold over the years that are included in the “Locating Girlhood” exhibition at American Folk Art Museum. We’re so delighted to see these spectacular works featured in this impressive exhibition dedicated to needlework and other ornamental arts made by American girls in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Image - Mary Antrim, Needlework Picture, Burlington County, New Jersey, 1807.

Worktable depicting Mount Vernon, possibly Maine, circa 1815-1825.

Attributed to Sarah Phillips, Needlework picture, probably Boston, Massachusetts, circa 1670.

Portrait of a Young African American Girl, probably Tompkins County, New York, circa 1840.

Hannah Pearson, Emblem of America, probably Byfield Academy, Newburyport, Massachusetts, circa 1800-1805.

Lydia Hart, Adam and Eve in Paradise, Boston, Massachusetts, 1744.

09/27/2026

200 years ago today, Lord Charles was fiddling and Lady Sarah was sewing—at least that's the inscription on the backside of this watercolor dated September 27, 1826. This interior scene was part of a friendship album made by Celestia Bull of Wi******er, Connecticut, for "Lady" Sarah Sawyer; Celestia was deaf.

It is derived from the English "conversation piece" and is a rare document of a period interior. We sold it to a private collector. ⁠
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Celestia Bull (1807-1892)⁠
Lord Charles is Fiddling [and] Lady Sarah is Sewing⁠
Wi******er, Connecticut, 1826⁠
Watercolor and ink on paper, 8 x 6 ½ inches

09/23/2026

The unusual yellow, pink, and black-painted border makes this silhouette portrait of a young gentleman exceptional. The head and face are hollow-cut, while the hair, cravat, vest, and coat are executed in watercolor.⁠
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Miniature silhouette of a young gentleman with rare decorated background ⁠
New England, circa 1830⁠
Hollow-cut watercolor on paper, 3 ¾ x 2 ¾ inches

Address

358 Main Street S
Woodbury, CT
06798

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+12039827574

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http://WWW.SCHORSCH-SMILES.COM/

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