Mrs. Ebenezer Storer (Mary Edwards)

Description

Mary Edwards, portrayed as Mrs. Ebenezer Storer, looks outward beneath a white bonnet in John Singleton Copley’s pastel. A gray, spotted wrap gathers across her shoulders, its quieter tones setting off the pale face and head covering. The dark background brings the likeness close, allowing the small differences of color and expression to carry the portrait without an elaborate setting.

Made in 1767–69, the portrait is a pastel on paper, distinct from an oil painting. The medium allows color and tone to be established through applied marks, giving the likeness a surface whose handling remains part of its character. Copley brings descriptive attention into relationship with the softer possibilities of pastel. The work invites looking at a person and an image together, where the sitter’s individuality and the artist’s treatment shape the same encounter.

Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the John Singleton Copley collection.