Miss Emeline Parker of Lowell, Massachusetts

Ruth Whittier Shute

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Married in 1827, Ruth and Samuel Shute were a husband-and-wife team of itinerant portrait painters working in New England and upstate New York. Although they initially painted independently, the couple collaborated on a series of oil and watercolor portraits beginning in 1832. Little is known about the sitter, who is identified only by the calling card in her right hand. An inscription on the back reveals each artist’s contribution to the work, which was “Drawn by R.W. Shute and Painted by S. A. Shute.” The couple characteristically mixed materials, combining graphite, watercolor, and applied gold foil, added here to emulate Miss Parker’s jewelry.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art