Celebrate: Portrait of Mary Edwards Honey

The arrow, Cupid’s favorite weapon, was a popular symbol of affection. Jane Stuart, the daughter of portrait artist Gilbert Stuart, painted Mary Edwards Honey dressed in the latest fashion for evening entertaining in the late 1860s. Mary wears a large Cupid’s arrow brooch pinned in her lace collar.

How do we know the painting is by Jane Stuart? Jane made her living in Newport, Rhode Island, painting portraits and copies of her famous father’s work. According to Honey family history, lawyer Samuel Honey lived nearby, so Jane asked him to draft her will. As compensation for his legal services Jane painted this portrait of the lawyer’s young wife.