The Story Behind the Ladycliff Watercolor
A reader found a handwritten note behind a framed 1905 watercolor and traced it to Ladycliff. She asks the alumnae site what it knows about the booklet, the artist and the building.
A letter from a reader in Maryland, signed Norma, explaining the watercolor that hung in the original site's photo gallery. She and her husband bought it about 35 years earlier at a house auction in West Virginia. It is signed Farley 1905, and the writing on the backing board, deciphered with help from a framing shop, orders 100 copies for E. H. Dickey of Highland Falls and mentions a booklet to come. She asks about the booklet, the artist, and whether the building still stands. Undated.
The Story Behind the Ladycliff Watercolor
Following is the story behind the Ladycliff watercolor posted in the Photo Gallery:
I live in MD & I am writing to you to tell you about a framed watercolor (signed Farley 1905) which my husband & I purchased about 35 yrs ago at an auction held at a home in West Virginia. The glass was very dirty & shortly after we brought it home I took it apart just to clean the glass. I saw that there was writing on the board supporting the watercolor, but didn’t do any research to try to identify either the artist or site. Since it was purchased in W.Va I have always assumed it was of the cliffs near Harper’s Ferry. I have just taken it into a local framing shop to be reframed & the framing shop associates & I have deciphered the writing to say:
The Convent with Mary Scholars
Please send 100 copies of this picture
to E. H. Dickey Highland Falls, NY C.O.D. by Express
You will probably receive larger orders for this picture separate from the booklet - it will sell like hot cakes here and at the convent - make it an advertisement for the booklet yet to come - you could make a larger copy than the one for the booklet
JPF
“LadyCliff” South (?) of West Point
I “Googled” Ladycliff & came up with your site. The framing shop will photograph the picture for me so I can send you a copy if you are interested. Given the date of 1905, it would have been painted before the college started & when Ladycliffe Academy was just starting up & shows a building which appears to the building featured on the right on your home page. I am interested in knowing if you have any information on the “booklet” referred to or if you might have any information on the artist (JPFarley). Is the building still standing?
Regards,
Norma
A few questions
What is the watercolor and where did it come from?
It is a framed watercolor signed Farley 1905. The writer and her husband bought it about 35 years earlier at an auction at a home in West Virginia, and she long assumed it showed the cliffs near Harpers Ferry.
What did the writing on the backing board say?
She and the framing shop read it as an order to send 100 copies of a picture titled The Convent with Mary Scholars to E. H. Dickey in Highland Falls, New York, by express, as an advertisement for a booklet yet to come.
What does she want to know?
She asks whether the alumnae site has information on the booklet or on the artist, signed JPFarley, and whether the building still stands. She thinks it may be the building shown on the right of the old home page, from before the college began.
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