15: OIL PAINTING ATTRIBUTED TO HATTIE BOTHWELL SEDALIA

Hattie Bothwell (Attr)

A circa 1880s oil on canvas attributed by local lore to an aspiring young artist named Hattie Bothwell of Sedalia, Missouri.
The story goes that shortly after Hattie and John Bothwell were married in 1883, Hattie, who yearned to be an artist, painted this portrait of a young girl from the neighborhood. Soon thereafter, she died at a very young age from complications related to childbirth.
Her husband John, a young and prosperous lawyer, never re-married, The story follows that this painting hung in the 31-room, 12,000-square-foot Bothwell Lodge just north of Sedalia for several decades and the Bothwell Hotel in downtown Sedalia for several more.
The work is unsigned. A verbal story attributes this work to Hattie Bothwell. Local lore also carries that the framer, Barrett's Framing of Sedalia, went out of business in the early 1900s.
Canvas measures 52 x 32 in a 64 x 44 inch frame.
Very good condition noting one large old amateur repair lower right corner.
$500 - $1,000