Klaus

Mearto specialist

Thank you for submitting your item for appraisal. This appears to be an oil on canvas painting depicting a young girl with a red bonnet and a piece of straw in the mouth, apparently not signed. The department store chain "Gand Leader" in St. Louis, Missouri was in operation from 1892 until the 1980s. Judging from the flaking of the paint it might be a painting on a photograph. This was a very common procedure at the time ( "have a portrait of your loved ones painted in oil"). This turn of the century painting, late 19th to early 20th century, was made for home decor. The estimate is based on similar decorative paintings of that era offered or sold at auction.