Artist Joseph Blackburn, a British immigrant, worked in the Boston area for only 9 years before returning to England. Companion portraits of Samuel Cutts (1726–1801), a prosperous merchant in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Anna Holyoke (1735–1812) of Boston, were executed around the time of their marriage. They seem to have been among the last works Blackburn painted in this country. Anna's husband was a representative to the New Hampshire General Court and a member of the New Hampshire Provincial Congress. They were married at Cambridge, Massachusetts, December 8, 1762.
