For this month’s History Mystery, we have something a little different: a painting from our portrait collection!   KHS needs your help in identifying this painting of a woman, who is wearing in a high-necked black dress, and a jeweled cross brooch.  Both the dress and cross appear to be black, with the cross including gold edging and white (diamond/opal?) stones as accents. The black segments of the cross were painted in such a way as to suggest a shine to them. Does this mean the segments were onyx, or a polished dark wood? Based on the clothing style, the KHS staff believes this item was painted between 1870-1900. During a recent inventory of the collections, our curators discovered a possible clue!  A note attached to the frame implies this woman may have been an officer in the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Think you might know who she is?  Let us know by commenting below!

For more information about this painting, or to see other mysterious items in our artifact collection, visit our Object Catalog.

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