American School, Pittsburgh, 19th Century

Portrait of Mary Glass West (Pittsburgh, 1831-1871), wife of Matthew Hay West (Pittsburgh, 1799-1872), at 27 yrs old, ca. 1858. Oil on canvas, unsigned, possible artist Thomas Hicks (American, 1823-1890). In a wooden frame, overall 36 ¾" x 31 ½".
Provenance: old prominent private collections, The Glass and The West Families (both since second half of 18th c.), Pittsburgh, PA, by descent in the families to the current owner.

Mary Glass West (1813 – 1870)
Granddaughter of the Baldwin (Mifflin Township) Pioneer Farming Family Sammual and Elizabeth Glass, Daughter of Johnston and Elizabeth Glass. The Glass family owned and farmed a large tract where currently Glass Run Road and Streets Run Road intersect.
Mary Glass married Sammuel Hay West (1799 – 1873) in 1832. The West family was also a pioneer farm family that owned a significant tract located in Homestead near West Street and West Run Road.
Sammual Hay West was the son of Joseph and Mary West and Grandson of Colonel Alexander Lowry. Colonel Lowry was a guide to General Forbes on his march to Fort Duquesne and later became the Commander of the Lancaster Militia in the Battle of Brandywine.
The Glass and West family farms remained in operation until 1871 when the family began to sell property to developers and workers in the emerging steel industry.

Condition: Good overall. Newer wax lining of canvas, craquelure throughout, newer varnish layer, inpainting seen under UV light, conserved in December 1968 by Bernard Rabin of Painting Conservation Studio, Inc. Newark, NJ.