(1827-1890) Though Elisha Bakers paintings are scarce, their great charm makes them highly desirable to collectors. Baker was born in New York City and grew up in Colchester, Connecticut. He went to sea in 1851. He worked as a painter from 1868 to 1880; a surviving business card identifies him as a Marine Painter at 115 Pearl Street and 104 South Street in New York. Although he painted some landscapes, he is known primarily for his paintings of ships, yachts, and steamboats. He traveled throughout New England, and is thought to have traveled to the British Isles in the 1880s. Baker died in 1890 in Orange, Connecticut. His works are in the collections of the New Bedford Whaling Museum, the Mariner's Museum, and the Mystic Seaport Museum. As late as 1979, only twenty-four paintings by Baker had been recorded; eleven others were subsequently attributed to him. He signed his works variously as "E.T. Baker," E. Taylor Baker," or with a monogram of the three conjoined initials of his name.

Biography courtesy of Roger King Gallery of Fine Art, www.antiquesandfineart.com/rking