Creepy family portrait

I love love love old American folk art, particularly portraits. There is always something "off" about them; the proportions are wrong, the perspective is flat, or the features are creepy.

I spotted this pair of 8x6" portraits on the same day, and at the same shop, as Big Al. The print is on thin paper adhered to a chunk of wood. The edges were deliberately worn down to make the pieces look older. I have several interior design books from the 50's and 60's and this set would have fit perfectly in a Colonial Revival room, complete with copper pots, Windsor armchairs and a spinning wheel. 

My favorite part is the dog underneath the father's chair. A very un-dog-like face. (Click on the photos to enlarge them, then click again for a really BIG version.)

(Incidentally, when I first saw these my mind went straight to an episode of my favorite television show Supernatural. The ghost-slaying brothers are hunting a killer who pops out of an old family portrait painting. Here's a short clip of them realizing that, even though they burned the painting, the spirit was too strong and the art reappears. The portrait looks like this:

I brought the little pictures home. The first thing my husband said was, "Holy shit. One of those kids is going to kill us in the middle of the night." I am pleased to say that, even though the plaques hang on the wall in the living room, we have not yet had our throats cut by an evil ghost child.)