Focus on Rebecca Pritchard Mills and Her Daughter Eliza Shrewsbury and analyze the Subjects.
Born Rebecca Pritchard, the mother had married wealthy shipwright Edward Shrewsbury of Charleston and produced one child, Eliza. Shrewsbury died in 1793, and his widow remarried to wealthy tailor William Mills of Charleston in February 1795. Earl probably painted Rebecca on the occasion of her second marriage between 1794 (when Earl arrived in Charleston) and August 1796 (when Earl died of yellow fever). Eliza Shrewsbury had married wealthy merchant Isham Williams in 1786.
The portrait bears a striking resemblance to Earl's Elizabeth Fales Paine and Her Aunt, painted at about the same time. The Paines lived two blocks away from the Pritchards, moved in the same circles, and shared business dealings.
Charleston