William Matthew Prior was a prolific and masterful portrait and ornamental painter who is also known today for his entrepreneurial marketing approach: he was capable of painting naturalistic likenesses but also offered a more abstract style "without shade" that he could paint quickly and inexpensively. He was long an admirer of painter Gilbert Stuart, and, in 1850, after three years of effort, Prior was given permission to copy the Stuart portrait of George Washington in the Boston Athenaeum. Prior's copy served as a model for at least two signed and six attributed works; he also painted at least two signed and four attributed pendant portraits of Martha Washington. Prior began offering reverse paintings on glass late in his career. In 1862 the artist charged eight dollars for a single glass painting and fifteen dollars for a pair of Washington portraits.

Lee Kogan, "George Washington," exhibition label for FOILED: Tinsel Painting in America. Lee Kogan, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2012–2013.