Born in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, Bass Otis first appeared as a portrait painter in New York City in 1808. Four years later, Otis moved to Philadelphia where he remained until 1845, and where he continued to work as a painter and lithographer, producing the first lithograph in the United States by 1819. Between 1845 and 1858, Otis moved to New York, Boston and returned to Philadelphia prior to his death in 1858.