Mederic-Louis-Elie Moreau de Saint-Mery

According to William Dunlap, biographer of American artists, the price for a profile likeness by James Sharples was $15; for a full-face, $20. The so-called full-face images, such as this, actually portray a three-quarters visage. They are relatively rare in Sharples’s oeuvre and, almost without exception, are singular images, whereas his profiles were drawn to be replicated. Moreau de Saint-Méry, a member of a distinguished Creole family, served as deputy for Martinique and as an elector in Paris before being forced to flee to the United States in November 1793, after Robespierre’s accession to power. He sat for Sharples in Philadelphia, where he owned a bookshop, pursued his career as an author, and sold dry goods on the side.