For most mid-nineteenth century American sculptors, portrait commissions provided a reliable income. Boston abolitionist patrons supplied Lewis with a number of such commissions, but this small bust of Anna Waterston appears to have possessed a more intimate association. An inscription on the back suggests the sculptor personally dedicated the sensitive likeness to the Waterstons, perhaps out of gratitude.

Anna Quincy Waterston ca. 1866
marble
11 7/8 x 7 1/4 x 5 1/8 in.
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dr. Richard Frates