Antique Painting Van Rensselaer Children from Estate of Abigail Adams

Antique Oil Painting of Van Rensselaer Sisters playing with the family dog 18th century French School painting is framed within a 20th century 4-inch wood molding with a cast and gold finish It is under glass Painting with frame is 25 1/4" x 28 1/4" Artwork is 20" high by 17" wide (stretcher) Girl is holding a bird and her head is turnedbtowards other girl and a jumping dog. They are in a garden landscape beneath a wall with a large sphinx on top The Van Rensselaers were a very prominent American family. Van Rensselaer was co-founder of the Dutch West India Company and presided over Rensselaerwyck, a swath of roughly 12,000 square miles of present day upstate New York The accomplishments of his descendants-one general of the Revolutionary War, numerous congressmen, lieutenant governors-assured the Van Rensselaer name fame Abigail Adams was a great granddaughter of John Quincy Adams. Rensselaer carried letters from Abigail Adams Smith to John Quincy Adams on April 15, 1795 while John Quincy Adams was at The Hague There were several Abigail Adams in the family We have a family tree and a Boston Globe article. The Adams family and Van Rensselaer families had a political association Painting was purchased in 1979 in Brewster, MA from an antiques dealer. Dealer had an old appraisal-painting was purchased January 14, 1914 from the estate of Abigail Adams, 452 Beacon Street, Boston, MA We have an extensive history of 452 Beacon Street