Incredible 1854 Louisville,Kentucky Folk Panting by Thomas Noble

Fine Art : Paintings

 

Innocence, I feel,is very important in art making and all but lost in contemporary art making. None of this though got past this southern folk art masterpiece from Louisville,Kentucky. The painting on board shows three of the Danforth children attributed to Thomas Satterwhite Noble on Jan 7th 1854. The period identification on the verso reads as follows; Florence Ward Danforth Born April 27th 1846 John Henshaw Dandorth born September 18th 1847,died 1853,Josephine Lewis Danforth Born September 13th 1849. They were children of Frances Antoinette Ward & Joseph Lewis Danforth who owned a plantation /farm in Louisville,Kentucky before the Civil War. More information found on the Danforth family follows through research; George L. Danforth was born July 24, 1854, and is a son of the late Joseph Lewis Danforth of this city. The latter was a native of Louisville, and was born January 21, 1821, and died October 29, 1887. He was a son of Joseph and Lucy Shaw (Lewis) Danforth--the latter a lineal descendant of Mary Chilton, who is said to have been the first of the pilgrim band to set foot on Plymouth Rock.

Mr. Joseph L. Danforth received a liberal education, graduating with honors from Harvard University. His tastes, however, tended toward commercial instead of literary pursuits, and after completing his education he was taken into the wholesale dry goods house of his father, and the firm became J. Danforth & Son, long well known and prominent in the commercial circles of the city. Mr. Danforth subsequently engaged in the insurance business, and was prominently identified with it for a period of thirty years. For twenty-five years he was president of the Board of Underwriters, which body, upon his decease, adopted appropriate memorial services. He served several terms in the school board, and was elected its president, but aside from this service, he never sought public office. Of modest, unassuming disposition, he also possessed a clear understanding, and his judgment has great weight with those with whom he was associated in business or social life. He was thoroughly honorable, and no man stood higher in the estimation of those who knew him. The remaining part of the inscription states the painting belongs to Josephine L.Danforth 1899 and Given to Florence Danforth Newcomb by J.L.D. & A S in the year 1930. In closing this gorgeous painting measures 12 x 14 inches including it's original untouched frame. As you can see a brass daguerreotype mat was used by the artist to define his masterpiece. It would be nearly impossible to find a finer documented pre-Civil War southern painting as special as this one. And not an ounce of innocence has been lost.

Item ID: 414