Lot 85: Ellen Wallace Sharples (1769-1849)

Portrait of George Washington
pastel on paper
9 1/4 x 7 1/4 in. (23.5 x 18.4 cm.)
Executed circa 1800.

E.D. Garrett, "Living with Antiques: The Manhattan Apartment of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lee Gill," The Magazine Antiques, May 1977, illustrated.

Kennedy Galleries, New York.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lee Gill, New York, 1969.

PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTION

Portraitist James Sharples and his wife Ellen Wallace Sharples moved with their children to America in 1792. During his first years, Sharples traveled throughout New England where he specialized in making profile and three-quarter bust-size pastel portraits and quickly earned himself a reputation as a distinguished artist. It was during this time that he also created cabinet portraits of President George Washington that became so popular, his wife and family would produce copies after James' likenesses of Washington and other sitters.