Wonderful Antique Graphite Portrait of Man with Blue Eyes and Beard, Fenced Above Elbows! machine age design but very pretty

but very pretty

but I think it is possible the Bickerton refers to Port Bickerton in Nova Scotia

Hiram Campbell Merrill  (1866-1958) was a Boston-born painter and engraver

and vulnerability too

Wonderful Antique Graphite Portrait of Man with Blue Eyes and Beard, Fenced Above Elbows! machine age design but very prettyThe more time I spend with this folk portrait, American c. 1880s I believe, the more I love it. Looking closely, it appears that there is just a very subtle bit of pale blue used for the irises of his eyes. And this wonderful care given to the brushy hairs of his beard. And this very sweet little bowtie. But what really makes if for me are the curlicue lines encircling his arms and demarcating the bottom edge of the drawing evincing a barbed wire