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Mederic-Louis-Elie Moreau de Saint-Mery

1798
Not on view
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.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Mederic-Louis-Elie Moreau de Saint-Mery
  • Artist: James Sharples (ca. 1751–1811)
  • Date: 1798
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Pastel and black chalk (or black pastel) on toned (now oxidized) wove paper
  • Dimensions: 9 7/16 x 7 1/4 in. (24 x 18.4 cm)
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Charles Allen Munn, 1924
  • Object Number: 24.109.89
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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Josiah Ingersoll, Master-Warden of the Port of New York, James Sharples British, Pastel on light gray wove paper, American
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Albert Gallatin, James Sharples British, Pastel on light gray wove paper, American
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Alexander Hamilton, James Sharples British, Pastel on toned (now oxidized) laid paper, American
Alexander Hamilton
James Sharples
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Noah Webster, James Sharples British, Pastel on light grey wove paper, lined with canvas, American
Noah Webster
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Ellen Wallace Sharples
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Dorothea Hart, James Sharples British, Pastel on tone (now oxidized) laid paper, American
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