Portrait of Eliza Parker Townsend of Lowell, Massachusetts

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.