Wonderful Antique Graphite Portrait of Man with Blue Eyes and Beard, Fenced Above Elbows! blackberries sign I am not sure that

I am not sure that I could envisage a purer embodiment of the verb "to hold" than this

with wishes from son to father (I believe) to cheer up

Happy Families is a card game first published in in the 1851

Completely lovely

Wonderful Antique Graphite Portrait of Man with Blue Eyes and Beard, Fenced Above Elbows! blackberries sign I am not sure thatThe more time I spend with this folk portrait, American c. 1880s I believe, the more I love it. Looking closely, it appears that there is just a very subtle bit of pale blue used for the irises of his eyes. And this wonderful care given to the brushy hairs of his beard. And this very sweet little bowtie. But what really makes if for me are the curlicue lines encircling his arms and demarcating the bottom edge of the drawing evincing a barbed wire