Women in the 19C United States of America: American Women by Artist Anna Claypoole Peale (1791

Thursday, February 24, 2022

American Women by Artist Anna Claypoole Peale (1791–1878)

Anna Claypoole Peale (1791-1878) Elizabeth Bordley Polk Bend (Mrs. Joseph Grove Bend) c. 1820-1830.

Anna Claypoole Peale (1791-1878) was one of the 6 children of James Peale & Mary Claypoole. Her father, a skilled portraitist, still life painter, & miniaturist, trained her. She was considered a professional artist, when she still was in her early teens.

Anna Claypoole Peale by Her Father James Peale (1749-1831) 1812

In Philadelphia, Anna & her sister, Sarah Miriam (called Sally), began by helping their father with painting fabric for shawls. Anna Peale sold her first paintings, copies of French landscapes, at the age of 14.

Anna Claypoole Peale by Her Father James Peale (1749-1831) 1825

She is best known for her miniature portraits. Her uncle, Charles Willson Peale wrote of her work, “Anna in Miniature is becoming excellent.” After working in his studio for a year, Charles wrote of Anna’s progress, “Her merit in miniature painting brings her into high estimation, & so many Ladies & Gentleman desire to sit for her that she frequently is obliged to raise her prices.”

Anna Claypoole Peale (1791–1878) Marianne Becket

Anna Peale’s first major exhibition was in 1811, when she was 20. Her work was featured at the first exhibition of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. She continued to show her miniatures there for many years. In 1824, Anna Claypoole & her sister, Sarah Miriam Peale, were the 1st women to be elected members of the Pennsylvania Academy. Anna worked independently in Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia, New York & Boston.

Anna Claypoole Peale (1791–1878) Mrs Nathan Endicott (Margaret Oliver Hicks)

Peale married twice. Her 1st wedding was in 1829, when she was 38. Her husband was William Staughton, a popular Baptist preacher & former president of the college that now is George Washington University. Just 3 months after Peale & Staughton’s marriage, Staughton died. She waited more than a decade to remarry & was 50, when she wed General William Duncan in 1841. This marriage lasted until Duncan’s death in 1864.

Anna Claypoole Peale (1791–1878) Portrait of a Woman

Anna Claypoole Peale (1791 – 1878) Young Woman with a Book

Anna Claypoole Peale (1791–1878) Woman in a Red Dress

Anna Claypoole Peale (1791–1878) Anna Sarah Ann Beck

About this blog

In colonial America, men were considered superior to woman in all ways. In a strict patriarchal hierarchy, men controlled not only wealth & political power but also how their children were raised, religious questions, & all matters of right & wrong.

In the early part of the 19Cy, however, many Americans experienced a revolution in gender. The doctrine of “separate spheres” maintained that woman’s sphere was the world of privacy, family, & morality while man’s sphere was the public world -– economic striving, political maneuvering, & social competition. But women were interested in equality.

In 1848, New York passed the Married Woman’s Property Act. Now a woman wasn’t automatically liable for her husband’s debts; she could enter contracts on her own; she could collect rents or receive an inheritance in her own right; she could file a lawsuit on her own behalf. She became for economic purposes, an individual. By 1900, every state has passed legislation modeled after this, granting married women some control over their property and earnings.

In 1870 after the Civi War, the 15th Amendment was ratified, saying, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” African-Americans could vote, but women could not.

But it was not until 1920, that the 19th Amendment was ratified granting women the right to vote. “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”