James Martin
Little is known of James Martin. As indicated by advertisements, he was from London and arrived in New York circa 1794 and worked in the region until about 1820. His early 19th century Connecticut advertisements stated that he painted both full-size and miniature portraits “in Oil, Water, or Crayon from $11 to $50″. Despite some success, he was not well regarded by the art critic, William Dunlap, who described him as the most wretched pretender to crayon painting. (Connecticut Journal of New Haven, September 24, 1800; Windham Herald, August 2, 1811; cited in Philip H. Dunbar, Portrait Miniatures on Ivory 1750-1850 From the Collection of the Connecticut Historical Society, Bulletin, vol. 29, no. 4 (October 1964), page 102.