Maria Peale

“Orange, Raisins, Pansies, Wine Glass and Japanese Vase” ascribed to Maria Peale (1787-1866).

By Amy Grant

Although Maria Peale was a talented painter of still-lifes, her story has largely been forgotten. 

Likely, this is because none of her paintings were thought to survive in public or private collections. However, a recent discovery has sparked renewed interest in her work.

Born in 1787, Maria was the second daughter of James Peale and Mary Claypoole. She came from a family of renowned artists. Her uncle Charles Willson Peale was an important figure in the introduction of miniature painting in the American colonies. Her father James also painted many miniatures. And her mother’s brother James Claypoole Jr. was a portrait painter.

Maria and her sisters were raised to be independent women … unusual for the time. They were highly educated and taught entrepreneurial skills. James and his brother Charles both believed in pushing their children toward artistic careers. The brothers hugely influenced their children, nieces and nephews, many of whom became successful artists. Three of Maria’s sisters achieved acclaim for their work: Sarah Miriam was a portrait painter; Anna Claypoole and Margaretta Angelica were still-life painters.

Maria exhibited just one painting … at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts

Unlike her sisters, Maria never seems to have pursued an artistic career. She only exhibited one painting, a still-life of vegetables, at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) in 1811. Surprisingly, this painting is not in the PAFA collection. And no one knows what happened to it.

As her father James aged, his eyesight began to fail. No longer able to work on miniatures, he began painting large-scale portraits and landscapes. Maria assisted her father in his studio and cared for him into his final years. Some believe she contributed to James’s works produced during this time.

Maria died in 1866 and was buried at Ronaldson’s Cemetery in Philadelphia. When this cemetery was closed in the 1950s, the bodies interred there were moved to a mass grave across the city. All those gravestones were slated for demolition. But leaders at Gloria Dei Church lobbied to save a handful of these markers. The Peale family vault, memorializing Maria’s family, was selected for preservation and can be visited at Gloria Dei today.

In 2008, a still life called “Orange, Raisins, Pansies, Wine Glass and Japanese Vase” signed by M. Peale was sold at a Sotheby’s auction. This painting had been in private collections for many years and exhibited in the 1960s in the midwest. The style and arrangement of subjects is unlike the works of Maria’s father or sisters. Therefore, it has been ascribed to her.

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Conservation Assessment

Family Vault
Mary
wife of
James Peale
Died Jan 'y 11, 1829
Aged 76 years
Also
James Peale
Died May 24, 1831
Aged 82 years
Maria G. Peale
Died March 27, 1866, aged 78 years
James Peale
Died October 27, 1876
in his 88 year
Sophonisba Peale
Died August 3, 1878
in her 78 year
Anna G. Duncan
died December 25, 1878
in her 87 year
Margaretta A. Peale
died January 17, 1882, aged 86 years
Sarah M. Peale
Died February 4, 1885, aged 85 years

Type of Marker: Ledger stone
Material: Marble
Issues: delamination, blistering
Comments: Whole stone
Recommended Treatment:

• Excavate soil around ledger.
• Raise and relocate ledger within a couple feet to an area without tree roots.
• Install two reinforced concrete lintels as a foundation for the ledger to rest on.
• Patch and fill all blistering and delaminating sections with a lime based mortar.
• Gently clean the surface of the stone with a biocide using a soft bristled brush.
• Treat the stone with an Ethyl Silicate consolidate.

Marker Details
Inventory Number: 533
Plot Number: 786
Cemetery Section: 11