1. James Sharples (c. 1751–1811), English-born portrait painter who immigrated to the United States in 1794 with his wife, painter Ellen Wallace Sharples (1769–1849) and children Felix (b. 1786), James Jr. (1788–1839), and Rolinda (c. 1793–1838). The family settled in Philadelphia and New York, but travelled throughout the east coast, executing portraits and miniatures, in charcoal and pastels. Other sitters included the Washingtons, the Adamses, AH, TJ, GM, Lafayette, the Madisons, and other political leaders. Profiles were created using a physiognotrace, a device that enabled the profile of the sitter to be exactly copied.

Portraits of the Jays known to exist are of JJ, collection of the Bristol Museum, attributed to Ellen Sharples; SLJ with WJ and Sarah Louisa Jay, collection of the John Jay Homestead; and PAJ, collection of the New-York Historical Society. It is believed that portraits were done of Maria Jay and Ann Jay, but the location of these is unknown. Katharine McCook Knox, The Sharples, Their Portraits of

George Washington and His Contemporaries (New Haven, 1930), 101; and Kathryn Metz, “Ellen and Rolinda Sharples: Mother and Daughter Painters,” Woman’s Art Journal 16 (1995): 3–11.