Sarah Miriam Peale was the youngest daughter of James Peale (1749-1831) from whom she learned to paint. In 1824 both she and her sister Anna were elected to membership in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. The following year Sarah moved to Baltimore, where she became a successful portraitist. During the early 1840s she painted a number of noted American statesmen in Washington, D.C. In 1846 she relocated to St. Louis and did not return to Philadelphia until 1877. Although Sarah was primarily a portraitist, she is also noted for her table top still lifes that reflect the influence of her father. Reference: Wilbur Harvey Hunter, Miss Sarah Miriam Peale, 1800–1885: Portraits and Still Life [exh. cat., The Peale Museum] (Baltimore, 1967).