Lot 408: A Pair of Still Lifes by Isabel (Belle) Elizabeth Smith (1843-1938),

both oil on canvas, with strawberries and blackberries, each signed Bell E. Smith in the lower right. Housed in original matching gilt and gesso frames; each 9.25" high x 13" wide (sight). These are the first examples by "Belle" Smith that Cowan's has encountered. Isabel (Bell) Elizabeth Smith was born in Smith's Landing and studied at the Western Female College in Oxford, Ohio and was in and out of Cincinnati during her career. For more detailed biographical information, see "Artists in Ohio, 1787-1900" by Haverstock (2000). Very minor losses and nicks to frame. A small puncture in the upper center of the blackberries, some scattered craquelure developing in areas in both. Both works appear to have been poorly cleaned at some point during their lifetime, but did not lose any integrity for it.

Discovered in a Paris, Kentucky home