Artwork
Girl with Toy Rooster
Girl with Toy Rooster is an oil painting. It dates from 1840 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Look at the National Gallery of Art, Washington’s collection of early American art.
A girl in a plain dress holds a wooden rooster on a table. The bird’s red comb stands out against her dark hair. Light hits the toy just enough to show its carved details.
This was painted in America around 1840. Such small portraits were common before photography. The artist left no name, but the quiet focus feels personal.
Look at the National Gallery of Art, Washington’s collection of early American art.
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts a young girl holding a toy rooster, an object identified in the artwork's metadata simply as a bird. Created by an American artist in 1840, the work falls within the genre of portraiture. While the specific symbolic intent is not detailed in the provided records, the inclusion of the toy rooster serves as a defining attribute of the sitter's identity within the composition.
The bird is the sole non-human element explicitly noted as being depicted alongside the child in the available documentation.
Technique & Style
Girl with Toy Rooster is executed in oil paint on canvas, a standard support for mid-19th-century American portraiture. The painting measures 76.5 by 63.8 centimeters, an upright format suited to a half-length figure composition. The work is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where it has been preserved since its 1953 gift from Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch.
The sources describe the piece only in terms of medium, dimensions, and provenance, and do not provide detail on brushwork, palette, surface condition, or stylistic handling beyond its classification as a portrait depicting a bird.
History & Provenance
Girl with Toy Rooster is an oil on canvas portrait painted circa 1840 by an American 19th‑century artist. The work portrays a toy rooster and was created in the United States, as indicated by its classification as a 19th‑century American painting. Its early ownership is documented in Massachusetts, where it remained until 1947, when it was acquired by Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; the couple later gifted the painting to the National Gallery of Art in 1953. The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., has held the piece since that donation.
Overview
This oil on canvas painting, titled Girl with Toy Rooster, dates to approximately 1840 and originates from America. It depicts a young girl in a simple dress, holding a carved wooden rooster on a tabletop. The artwork exemplifies the intimate scale and directness often found in portraits from this period, capturing a moment of quiet contemplation.
Context
Created in the mid-19th century, Girl with Toy Rooster belongs to a period when small-scale painted portraits were a prevalent means of capturing individual likenesses. Before the widespread adoption of photography, such artworks served as cherished personal mementos. The painting reflects a common practice of commissioning intimate depictions of family members, often by itinerant artists, to preserve their images for posterity.
Artist & collection
