Thomas Bayley Lawson

Thomas Bayley Lawson (January 13, 1807 – 1888) was an American artist and well-known portrait painter. Lawson was also the founder and first president of the Lowell Art Association and the Whistler House Museum of Art. In 1842, Thomas Lawson relocated his family to Lowell, Massachusetts, where he quickly became one of the prominent portrait painters. He painted many social elites, such as; John Avery, George Brownell, Jane A Lock, Judge John Look, Rev. Miles, John Nesmith.

In 1844, he was commissioned to travel to Washington, D.C. and paint Daniel Webster who was acting Secretary of State at the time. Secretary Webster sat a dozen times for Thomas to complete the work, but it was well worth the effort. Thomas was commissioned to replicate the painting over twenty times, and according to Fredrick W. Colburn, Daniel Webster complimented the painting for its uncanny likeness by saying; "That is the face I shave."

SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_B._Lawson