Lot 809: JAMES SHARPLES, 1793-1796

Portraits of Edward Pennington (1726-1796) and Sarah (Shoemaker) Pennington (1729-1797)
pastel on paper
Both 8 7/8 x 6 3/4 in. sight (2)

Born the son of Isaac and Ann (Biles) Pennington of Bucks County, Edward married Sarah Shoemaker, the daughter of Benjamin and Sarah (Coates) Shoemaker on November 26, 1754. The Penningtons had ten children, four of which died in infancy. A merchant, Edward built a large house at the corner of Crown and Race Streets around 1760. In 1768, Pennington was accepted as a member of the American Philosophical Society and from 1778-1779, he served as a manager of the Pennsylvania Hospital.

James Sharples was born in Lancashire, England, in 1751. He trained with George Romney and worked in Bath, Bristol, Liverpool and London before moving to America in 1793 with his wife, Ellen (1769-1849), a portraitist in her own right. They spent their first four years were spent in Philadelphia before moving to New York, where they worked for another four years. In 1801, the family moved back to England but returned to American in 1806. When James died in 1811, the family returned to Bristol.

Sharples executed portraits of many prominent Americans, including George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson.