Lot 312: MARY WAY (1769-1833)

Portrait Miniature of a Lady
The reverse a classical scene with eglomise decoration
watercolor and silk on cut paper
3 x 2 3/8 in.

MARY WAY Portrait and Miniature painter from New London, Connecticut Takes Likeness, upon Ivory or Glass, in colors or gold Paintings not approved may be returned without charge, at her painting room. No. 95 Greenwich street

Only one miniaturist is known to have created dressed miniatures: Mary Way (1769-1833) of New London, Connecticut. Adverising her own business above in the The Columbian in 1811, Way was an independent and accomplished woman. A daughter of Mary Taber and Ebenezer Way, both of New London, Connecticut, she and her sister Betsey most likely learned to paint at one of Connnecticut's female academies. Both sisters utilized their painting skills for their vocation and each woman periodically operated formal schools and offered instruction to young ladies. Only Mary is known to have created "dressed miniatures."

In the tiny profile portraits of Mary Way's "dressed miniatures," the face and hair of the sitter were executed in watercolor on paper and backed with silk or other cloth. The clothing of the sitters was fashioned with tiny pieces of silk, linen or cotton, which were often embellished with a painted highlight or detail. Recent scholarship identifies 36 additional surviving dressed miniatures to her, most of which are of New London county residents and all executed over a twelve or fifteen-year period starting around 1790. Mary Way believed that a form should be "light and airy, in a loose flowing robe...at least not look like a stick with corsets and a frock tied round it"