to the Salon of
J. William Fosdick (1858–1937)
Featuring his
circa 1891 Decorative Portrait Panel

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Untitled, Decorative Female Portrait By J. William Fosdick, circa 1891 Pyrography on wood of an unknown subject, Unframed panel 18" wide by 24" high Digital image by the owners

Untitled, detail of the signature, recto By J. William Fosdick, circa 1891 Inscription recto, lower right: J. W. FOSDICK Pyrography on wood of an unknown subject, Unframed panel 18" wide by 24" high Digital image by the owners

Untitled, detail of the face By J. William Fosdick, circa 1891 Pyrography on wood of an unknown subject, Unframed panel 18" wide by 24" high Digital image by the owners

From Americans Mr. and Mrs. George Flynn comes this untitled J. Wm. Fosdick portrait and a new mystery. It is unlike Fosdick to not add a date to his signature. In the early years, he was more likely to add the city, as well. Sometimes the subject of his portraits is named in the caption of one of the many articles by and about him and his much lauded fire etching. Sometimes, there is a verse below the portrait, and through the lines of that poem, the subject becomes known. However, other times—and this is one of them—he fails to name the subject. Unfortunately, this lovely work has no date, no city, and no known title.

By way of determining the subject and date of this work, we can observe that it does not appear to have the logo signature of his earliest years 1888–1890, but does look similar to the early 1890's in general, and particularly looks like almost a mirror image of his work The Miller's Daughter. Unlike that one, however, this one has no poem that would help us to determine a character.

Regarding the provenance of this intriguing Fosdick portrait of an unknown subject, the Flynns' daughter Kathleen McGowan remembers loving it from the first time she saw it hanging—nailed to the wall—in a building belonging to her aunt and uncle. She says that the panel had been donated by someone years before that, and she explained, as follows:

"My aunt and uncle lived in Massachusetts, on the South Shore, and some property they owned consisted of acreage and several buildings, all used as a Lutheran summer camp. Old silver, photos, furniture—all had been donated many years before by church congregations (I think in Quincy) to make the camp operational.

Mom received the Fosdick from her sister when the camp finally closed its doors for good in the '80's. My aunt said the woman in the carving reminded her of my mom when she was young."

It sometimes strikes us as remarkable that antiques survive at all, let alone in such good condition as this panel is in. In a subsequent conversation, Kat McGowan added the following little piece of unhappy history to its provenance:

"The building that housed the panel was broken into in the late 70's by vandals and part of the damage was done by green spray paint. The walls, fireplace and Fosdick were hit by paint. You'll see some evidence of it in the deeper burned/carved areas. My brother took it to a master carpenter friend of his who cleaned it off as best he could without use of any abrasive compound. Thankfully, it didn't get broken up as some chairs and other loose pieces of furniture did. The panel had been nailed to wood studs for decades, and avoided that fate."

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If you have any questions or any information regarding this decorative portrait from circa 1891, or other works by J. William Fosdick, please e-mail Kat McGowan and the E-Museum Curator.

You are leaving the J. William Fosdick Salon
Featuring his circa 1891 Decorative Portrait Panel

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