Joseph H. Davis portrayed Mary Antoinette Lorania Pike and her sister Sarah Adeline sporting hairstyles and wearing dresses and accessories that were the height of the fashion in the 1830s. Referred to as the “Brutas” or “Titus” style, the Pike sisters’ short hair, cropped closely at the neck and above the ears was vogue for both boys and girls. The large balloon sleeves narrowing tightly at the wrist, the off-the-shoulder necklines framed with decorative lace, the ribbon necklaces—wrapped twice around, with lockets at the end tucked in at the waist—and the three-quarter-length skirts, exposing pantaloons below, are all features stylistically consistent with clothing from 1835, the year this composition was drawn. Pantaloons were first introduced into women’s fashion in this country about 1830 by children visiting from Europe. Sarah Hale, editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, commented that “the fashion went first to children ‘til if got familiar to the eyes, and then ladies, little by little, followed after.” As if young girls were wearing trousers under their skirts, these undergarments initially were perceived as masculine clothing. According to historian Karin Calvert, contemporaries believed that a girl who wore pants would likely become coarse and wild “like boys,” thus threatening her ability to eventually foster refinement and an appreciation for culture in the American home.

Standing facing each other in this highly symmetrical composition, the girls are flanked by potted plants, flying birds, and two pet cats. One proud cat, sitting to the left, has arrived on the scene with its newly won prize, a dead bird, as if the girls would be pleased to receive homage from this mighty hunter. The cat at the right almost appears to scowl, as it enviously eyes the hunter’s prey. The two girls share at their own feet a beautiful, ornate dollhouse, large enough to accommodate at least one doll, who seems to await the occupant of a second chair, for whom she has prepared to seve tea. In pre-Civil War America, dolls and dollhouses were relatively rare acquisitions that were given to young girls as part of their informal training in the domestic arts. In addition to cutting and sewing articles of fashion for these little women of fashion, a young girl pretended to participate in household duties by playing with dolls and their accessories, acquiring skills in preparation for becoming a wife and mother.

Charlotte Emans Moore, "Mary Antoinette Lorania Pike and Sarah Adeline Pike," in Stacy C. Hollander, American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 396.

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