Watercolor on silk, 2 3/4 x 2 1/2”
Unsigned

Portrait of Mr. Guy Richards

Mary Way (1769-1833)

Guy Richards was the treasurer of New London, and Hannah was his wife. These portraits, attributed to Mary Way, probably date from before 1811, when the artist moved to New York City. She worked in the male-dominated art world until 1820, when she was blinded by glaucoma. John Trumbull and Samuel Waldo, leading artists and fellow Connecticut natives, organized a benefit exhibition for their “sister of the brush.”