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Object Record
Images
Additional Images [27]
Metadata
Object name |
Engraving |
Title |
General Washington |
Artist or maker |
unknown (after Gilbert Stuart) |
Date |
1801 |
Place of origin |
Philadelphia, PA |
Physical description |
George Washington stands slightly off center in a scholarly interior setting. He wears a dark suit (possibly satin) with white ruffles at his collar and wrists. In his proper left hand he holds a sword, just below the scabbard, and his proper left arm is held out to his side, chest high, palm up, as if presenting something to the viewer. To the right is an ornately carved chair, with an oval back and one small oval decoration showing the stars and stripes. To the left, directly below the General's outstreched arm is a matching table, covered partially by a heavy cloth. On top of the table stand two bound books, two rolls of parchment, and a quill standing in an ink bottle of possibly oriental design featuring possibly a dog?. Below the table are stacked several books, with two prominently standing upright leaning against the table leg titled "Laws U.S." and "Const. U.S." There is a decorative rug on the floor. The top quarter of the portrait features an upper level behind Washington, depicting two sets of double columns draped with fringed cloth and tied with tasseled rope. This portrait is framed in unmarked paper, the legend below the portrait reads "General Washington." "From the original Picture in Philadelphia." Also the manufacturer's note "Publish'd July 1.st 1801, by Atkins & Nightingale No. 100, Chesnut Street, Philadelphia" There are the initials "N.B." in pencil to the left of the legend. Particularly in the decades immediately after his death, many Americans felt unpatriotic if they failed to hang an image of Washington in their homes. This example, based on Gilbert Stuart's famous 1797 "Lansdowne" portrait, was a popular choice along with Stuart's "Athenaeum" portrait found on today's one dollar bill. Catalogue No. 9." |
Past exhibit |
A Stoic Countenance: Portraits of George Washington |
Catalogue number |
1984.12.047 |
Collection name |
Stanley Scott Collection |
Credit line |
Gift of Stanley D. Scott, 1984 |
People |
Scott, Stanley Washington, George Stuart, Gilbert |