Peter Marié (1826-1903)

He was the son of a French shipping merchant who traded with Mexico and the uncle of Mrs George Hunt Pendleton. He was a leading member of the "Four Hundred" and commissioned 300 miniature portraits of Gilded Age socialites. He was described by a contemporary as someone who, "had spent most of his life in study and travel, and whose collection of snuff-boxes was unrivalled. He had picked up many art treasures during his wanderings, and his parties were famous, for at them one could always reckon to meet the most charming people. He was of a poetical turn, and once gave a remarkable dinner, for which the invitations were written in poetry and those invited were asked to respond in verse. A beautiful prize was awarded to the guest who composed the best answer, and I believe that Miss (Elizabeth Marshall) Lamson, now Lady (Victor Arthur Wellington) Drummond, was the winner. Peter Marié and Ward McAllister were "Brummellian" types... (he) was content to take life as he found it (and) represented the rapidly disappearing old French type; he looked like an aristocrat of the time of Louis XV, and possessed all the polished manners of the period." He lived for many years in New York at 48 West 19th Street before retiring to 6 East 37th Street. He summered in Bar Harbor, Maine, and Newport, Rhode Island. He did not marry nor had any children.