The Parmly Sisters
Thomas P. Rossiter
ca. 1857
Medium
Painting
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Mary Montagu Walke
Accession Number
1986.77
Tags
domesticpianoPortrait femalesiblings
About this artwork
The Parmly sisters were the daughters of Dr. Eleazar Parmly, a prominent dentist in New York who was known as the âfather of modern dentistry.â In this portrait, Louisa, on the left, holds a book of Beethovenâs music, and Julia, on the right, sits at the piano leafing through sheet music. Their sister Mary is in the center. In 1851, Thomas P. Rossiter married Anna Parmly, elder sister of these girls. Anna does not appear in this image because she had died shortly before it was made.