RUTH W. SHUTE (1803-1882) AND DR. SAMUEL A. SHUTE (1803-1836), DATED FEBRUARY 17, 1832

Portrait of Eliza Parker Townsend of Lowell, Massachusetts

Details

RUTH W. SHUTE (1803-1882) AND DR. SAMUEL A. SHUTE (1803-1836), DATED FEBRUARY 17, 1832
Portrait of Eliza Parker Townsend of Lowell, Massachusetts
inscribed on verso Drawn by R.W. Shute and Painted by S.A. Shute, Feb. 17th 1832, Lowell, Mass.
watercolor and pencil on paper
24 x 20 in.

Provenance

Found in New Hampshire
Edith Gregor Halpert, New York
Terry Dintenfass, Inc., New York
Sold, Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, 14 November 1973, lot 68
Judy Lenett, Ridgefield, Connecticut
David A. Schorsch, Inc., New York
A Private Collection
David A. Schorsch, Inc., New York, 1992

Literature

Terry Dintenfass, Inc., Edith Gregor Halpert Folk Art Collection (New York, 1972), fig. K268.
Helen Kellogg, "Found: Two Lost American Painters," Antiques World Magazine (December 1978), pp. 35-37.

Exhibited

New York, Terry Dintenfass, Inc., Edith Gregor Halpert Folk Art Collection, 1972.

Lot Essay

Samuel Addison Shute (1803-1836) and Ruth Whittier Shute (1803-1882) were married in Somersworth, New Hampshire in 1827 and collaborated on likenesses throughout New England and New York for a short period of time until Samuel's death in 1836. Samuel attended Dartmouth College and was a physician. While most of their portraits remain unsigned, few works, like the one offered here, bear the inscription "Painted by R.W. Shute and S.A. Shute." In their collaborations, they experimented with different conventions and techniques but the end result was a dynamic and vibrant likeness. While prolific for a short while, their collaborative painting career was truncated by Samuel's death in 1836. Ruth continued to travel and paint. She remarried Alpha Tarbell in Concord, New Hampshire and moved with him to Lexington, Kentucky where she was known as a pianist and a painter.

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