IMPORTANT PAIR OF GUILFORD LIMNER, ATTRIBUTED, FOLK ART NORTH CAROLINA PORTRAITS, watercolor on paper, interior scenes depicting William and Martha Adams of Guilford County, each seated in a paint-decorated fancy side chair holding a book, he wearing a double-breasted dark blue coat and high white stock, she with black dress and white Quaker-style bonnet seated next to a candlestand, each identified in rectangular reserve at lower edge, no signature located. Unframed. Reserve. 1826. 10" x 8".
Each laid down on board, with moderate toning and staining to margins, otherwise very good with minor fading and discoloration.
Literature: See Carroll - Windows to the Past: Primitive Watercolors From Guilford County, North Carolina, in the 1820s, for a discussion of the artist and similar examples of his work.
Provenance: From the folk art collection of Anthony and Meaghanne Archambault, Adams, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts.
Catalogue Note: William Adams, born February 28, 1777, came to Guilford County, North Carolinafrom Caroline County, Maryland about 1790 during the 18th-century great migration of people from Pennsylvania and Maryland down the Great Wagon Road into places such as piedmont North Carolina. William was the son of Boaz and Rachel Adams of Caroline and Dorchester Counties, Maryland, and his father likely died in service during the Revolutionary War. William married Martha Kirkman April 18, 1801 in Guilford County, and the couple had six children. They lived in the Centre Community, an area predominantly settled by Quakers, and were neighbors of William Swaim, a prominent early 19th-century Greensboro printer and civic leader. William Adams was also an important figure in his community and is listed variously over the years as a hatter, chain carrier, Justice of the Peace, State Legislator, and Constable of Greensboro. He died in Raleigh in 1834, his will admonishing his children to "never allow their affections to be fixed upon the treasure of this world which changeth and passeth away, and availeth nought, but have them all concentrated upon that treasure beyond the skies, that fadeth not away, eternal in the heavens."The artist also created a similar portrait of William and Martha’s daughter, Elizabeth, dated "1827", that has descended in her family. William’s portrait, which includes a birth date for the sitter, may be unique in this respect. The present pair, recently discovered in Massachusetts and completely fresh to the market, represents a rare opportunity to acquire an important pair of identified folk portraits from the Southern backcountry..

Each laid down on board, with moderate toning and staining to margins, otherwise very good with minor fading and discoloration.