Bust of James Peck Thomas

Edmonia Lewis was born to an African American father and Native American mother. After her mother's death, Lewis's father, who was a servant, sent her to upstate New York to live with her aunts. Funds from her brother (who had become wealthy during the California Gold Rush), enabled Lewis to be educated first in Albany and then at Oberlin College. She was enrolled in the Oberlin Preparatory Department from 1859 to 1860, and in the Ladies Literary Course from 1860 to 1863. In 1862, however, she was accused of poisoning two white female students, and was severely beaten before her trial, at which she was acquitted.

Abolitionists helped Lewis move to Boston to study sculpture, and she was exhibiting her art there by 1864. One such work was a bust of the Civil War hero Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, who led a regiment of Black soldiers during the war; money made from the many plaster casts commissioned of it enabled Lewis to travel to Rome, where she set up a studio.

James Peck Thomas (1827-1913) was born in Nashville, Tennessee, to Sally Thomas, an enslaved woman, and John Catron, a prominent white jurist. Thomas's father did nothing for him, reportedly giving him just 25 cents during his lifetime. His mother, however, ultimately bought his freedom, and he then successfully petitioned for the right to remain in the state. Thomas later moved to St. Louis and--through real estate speculation and an advantageous marriage--became one of the wealthiest African Americans in the city. In 1873, Thomas visited Europe and met Lewis in her studio, commissioning this work, the artist's only marble portrait of an African American whose location is known.