Miner Kilbourne Kellogg, born Manlius - Persian Women - n.d. - T-Shirt

This colored pencil drawing sets two Persian women side by side across an open sheet of paper, one standing at ease and one seated at work.

Visual Elements & Composition

The pale grey paper fills most of the frame, so the figures read as quiet, separate studies rather than a crowded scene. On the left, a standing woman wears a fitted green bodice and a long skirt striped vertically in orange, pink, blue and yellow. A sheer scarf falls over one raised arm, and a small yellow bird perches on her outstretched hand. On the right, a seated woman sits cross-legged on a small patterned rug, wearing a red vest over a light, dotted garment, with a tall headdress. The word "Persian" is written in pencil along the lower edge.

Meaning & Symbolism

The pairing of a figure at leisure with a figure engaged in handwork points to domestic life rather than formal portraiture. The bird on the open hand stands for gentle companionship and idle pleasure, while the seated woman and her tool point to the daily labour that kept a household running. The care given to striped textiles, dotted cloth and the rug shows an observer recording the dress and surfaces of the region as he found them. Miner Kilbourne Kellogg, born in Manlius, New York, worked in American mission service in Persia, and drawings like this one document the costume and customs he encountered. The sheet belongs to a broader nineteenth-century Western interest in recording the clothing of the places visited.

Wearing the Artwork

On a tee, the drawing sits on the chest and moves with the wearer, so the striped skirt and the bird shift in view as you turn. The open paper layout suits a shirt, leaving the figures clear against the fabric. Wear it as a record of close looking, with the striped textiles and the small bird drawing the eye first, and the seated figure and her rug holding attention on a second look.