Lot 1330: JOSEPH H. DAVIS (ACT. 1832-1838). PORTRAIT OF SUSAN L. MARSTON AND HER YOUNGER BROTHER WILLIAM HENRY MARSTON WITH A HORSE PULL-TOY.

Double portrait of children in landscape above calligraphic inscription "Susan L. Marstons [sic], aged 6 years, November 14th 1836, William Henry Marston, aged 4 August 19th 1836." Watercolor on paper. 7 3/8 x 9 5/8 inches. Lydia Dearborn (1795-1865) and Eben(ezer) Marston (1793-1866), parents of Susan and William, were married in Deerfield, New Hampshire January 13, 1825 and had eight children. Eben's grandfather, Simon, born in 1737, purchased property in Deerfield that continues to be occupied by the family. His son Asa, born in 1758, married Betsy Shepard in 1792, and Eben was one of their six children. Susan (1830-1880) married Algernon Willis in 1859 and William (1832-1898) married Eliza Irwin of Springfield, Illinois circa 1859. Additional information about the Marston family is available to the purchaser.

The convention of two children in a landscape setting, facing each other and holding books, flowers and toys, was used by Davis in several portraits. See the 1974 exhibition catalog "Three New England Water Color Painters," cat. No. 9, fig. 6, Everett and