288 WOMEN ARTISTS.
lessons in the art. Mrs. Chapin had a large drawing school in Providence, and, with facility in every style, is said to be admirable in crayons. Many others might be mentioned, but it does not comport with the design of this work to record even the names of all who deserve the tribute of praise.
Several ladies of the Peale family have been distin- guished as artists, and are mentioned in the histories of painting in America. The parents of the subject of this sketch were Captain James Peale and Mary Claypoole. Her maternal ancestors, the Claypooles, came to this country with William Penn, and were among the earliest settlers in Philadelphia. They claimed direct descent from Oliver Cromwell, whose daughter Elizabeth married Sir John Claypoole.
James Peale had great celebrity as a painter, and ex- celled both in miniatures.and oil portraits. He was not only remarkable for success in his likenesses, but had the faculty of making them handsome withal, so that he was called among his acquaintances ‘the flattering artist.” This pleasing effect he gave, not by altering the features, but by happy touches of expression; and it was one secret of his eminent success. He painted, from actual sittings, several portraits of General Wash- ington and Mrs. Washington. One, a miniature, is now in the possession of his eldest daughter.
On one occasion, when Washington was sitting for his portrait in Mr. Peale’s painting-room, he looked at his watch, and said,
“Mr. Peale, my time for sitting has expired; but, if three minutes longer will be of any importance to you, I will remain, and make up the time by hasten- �
