The Historical Society owns a pencil sketch that is purported to be drawn by Gilbert Stuart when he was nine years old. Stuart grew up in Newport, and there are stories that his childhood drawings alerted the adults in his life to his gifts. He completed the famous painting Dr. Hunter’s Spaniels, which hangs today in the Hunter House, when he was 12. There is some evidence that the drawing came to us via Stuart’s daughter Jane, a fine artist in her own right. This gives us hope that the provenance is accurate. As we complete our collections records survey (see the special projects page), we hope to learn more about how this now faint, but charming drawing came into our collections.