Skip to profile content
Discovery
Log In

Additional Artworks

From A Mirror with a Memory

  1. Liqueur Glass by Louis Comfort Tiffany, Image 1.

    Louis Comfort Tiffany

    Liqueur Glass, c. 1920

    Favrile glass

    NFS

  2. Ladies' Pocket Watch by American Waltham Watch Co., Image 2.

    American Waltham Watch Co.

    Ladies' Pocket Watch, c. 1907

    10k gold, glass

    NFS

  3. Miniature Ginger Jar by Unknown, Japan, Image 1.

    Unknown, Japan

    Miniature Ginger Jar, c. 1900

    Earthenware

    NFS

  4. Miniature Censer by Unknown, Japan, Image 1.

    Unknown, Japan

    Miniature Censer, c. 1900

    Earthenware

    NFS

  5. Menu by Milton Bradley Co., Image 1.

    Milton Bradley Co.

    Menu, 1896

    Lithograph

    8 x 4.5 in (20.32 x 11.43 cm)

    NFS

  6. Miniature Pitcher by Unknown, Japan, Image 1.

    Unknown, Japan

    Miniature Pitcher, c. 1890

    Cloisonné enamel on porcelain

    NFS

  7. Kioto by [Unknown] Bauer, Image 1.

    [Unknown] Bauer

    Kioto, c. 1881

    Chromolithograph with photography base

    NFS

  8. Kioto by P. Lestel, Image 1.

    P. Lestel

    Kioto, c. 1881

    Chromolithograph with photography base

    NFS

View All Artworks

About the artist

Possibly Amy Otis

1863-1950

Otis was a native of Sherwood, New York, and was born to a family of Quakers. Her parents had migrated to the area at different times from Massachusetts, and had seven other children, six surviving; among them was Susan, who later became a noted physician in Cayuga County. Her grandfather was Job Otis,[1] who with his wife Deborah was a leader of the Otisites, and whose house may still be seen today in Sherwood.[2] Amy studied at Cornell University and the Philadelphia School of Design for Women,[3] and was a graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.[4] She also studied at the Académie Colarossi in Paris. For some years she was active as a portraitist in Philadelphia, where she also taught art at Miss Capen's School for Girls from 1911 to 1914.[3] In that year[5] she began work a professor at Wheaton College in Massachusetts,[3] ultimately becoming the head of the art department.[6] Otis retired from Wheaton in 1932.[5] She designed the seal for the school's Alumnae Association while she was there.[7] After leaving Wheaton she taught for a time at Wells College, where she was at one point acting head of the Department of Art.[8]

During her career Otis exhibited work throughout the United States. She was a member of the Philadelphia Water Color Club, the Pennsylvania Society of Miniature Painters, and The Plastic Club, and was a sister of Kappa Kappa Gamma.[3] Among her pupils at Wheaton was the future Precisionist Molly Luce.[9]

Otis was the aunt of painter Elizabeth Otis Dunn and illustrator Samuel Davis Otis,[4] and was a descendant of Mayflower passenger John Howland;[3] numerous other ancestors were prominent in the history of Scituate, Massachusetts.[1] A lecture series at Wheaton was established in her honor[10] by the Class of 1931 after her death.[5] A miniature watercolor-on-ivory portrait of Dorothy Gifford, titled A College Girl, is currently owned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.[11]

All object images © LB Laub. Please do not use without permission.

Powered by Artwork Archive