Portrait of a Young Girl with Blond Hair

This portrait miniature depicts a young girl wearing a sailor suit, which became the standard garment for American schoolchildren in the early twentieth century. The large matching blue ribbon accentuates her youth and acts as a framing device to balance the blue of her collar. McIntyre often opted for blue tones for her backgrounds, but in this case, she left the natural color of the ivory exposed, creating a bolder contrast between the colors. McIntyre may have used the same model in a separate portrait, where the sitter appears a few years older (see AZ085).