Reading Victorian Maiden with Kitten with Hamilton King

This is a fabulous, dated 1901, large format pastel on tinted artist paper by the prolific American illustrator Hamilton King.

In this portrait a bookish Victorian beauty in a large plumed hat catches up on her reading with a little kitten at her side.

The pastel is nicely matted and framed under glass and is ready to hang and enjoy.

This pastel comes from the collection of esteemed illustration art collector Norman Platnick.

About the artist: Hamilton King

Hamilton King (1871–1941) was a prominent illustrator who worked in the late 1800s and early 1900s. King illustrated the “Coca-Cola girls” for calendars from 1910 to 1913. The Coca-Cola calendar work was considered significant because the artist’s signature appeared in all printed matter for Coca-Cola, including serving trays.

King became well known for his “Hamilton King Girls”, significantly working on behalf of Turkish Trophies Cigarettes. A majority of this collection is held by The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Additional collections of the artist are held by the Smithsonian Institution.

The Legacy of Norman Platnick

In his New York Times obituary, Norman Platnick’s son Will said that his father had three passions in life, his wife Nancy, spiders, and collecting.

Few individuals have the chance to leave a mark like Norm’s in even one field, let alone two. But Norm managed to be both a celebrated scientist, and one of the most influential lay historians of illustration art.

Under his imprint Enchantment Ink, Norm researched, wrote, and published collectors guides to artists like Rolf Armstrong and Earl Christy. We at Grapefruit Moon Gallery rely on these books in our work, and they are now all freely available as PDFs through the Enchantment Ink website.

Norm’s expertise was a gift, his friendship was a treasure, and his legacy is immeasurable. He is missed.