America Lamenting Her Loss
Label Text
America lamenting her Loss at the Tomb of General Washington
Etching and engraving by James Akin (ca. 1773-1846), and William Harrison Jr. (active ca. 1797-1819), both American; Philadelphia, 1800
Printmakers issued many images to mark Geroge Washington's death. This is one of the earliest such prints. The artists symbolized America as a grieving woman and also noted the American eagle's agitation at the loss of the country's greatest leader.
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley DeForest Scott, 1985
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Date1800
After
James Sharples
(English, 1751/2 - 1811)
Engraver
James Akin
(American, 1773 - 1846)
Publisher
James Akin
(American, 1773 - 1846)
Subject
George Washington
(American, 1732 - 1799)
Geography
Made -
United States
Medium/TechniqueInk on paper; etching, engraving.
DimensionsOverall (H x W): 15 in. × 7 3/4 in. (38.1 cm × 19.69 cm)
Other (Image H x W): 11 3/4 in. × 7 3/8 in. (29.85 cm × 18.73 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley DeForest Scott, 1985
Object numberSC-16
DescriptionThis print is a memorial image honoring George Washington with an oval profile portrait of Washington hung on an obelisk. The allegorical embodiments of America in the forms a weeping woman and a an eagle mourn in from of the monument. Published ReferencesWendy C. Wick, George Washington: An American Icon, (Washington D.C.: The Smithsonian Institution, 1982), 138-140.
Charles Henry Hart, Catalogue of the Engraved Portraits of Washington, (New York: Grolier Club of the City of New York, 1904), 69.
William Spohn Baker, The Engraved Portraits of Washington with Notices of the Originals and Brief Biographical Sketches of the Painters, (Philadelphia: Lindsay & Baker, 1880), 188.
MarkingsPrinted in ink on the monument within the image: "G. Washington. / "Born 11th Feb. O. S. 1732. / Comr. Contl. Army 1775. / Pres. Fed. Convention 1787./Prest. United States 1789. / Declined Election 1796. / Comr. Fedr. Army 1796."
Printed in ink below the image: "America lamenting her loss at the tomb of / General Washington / Intended as a Tribute of respect paid to departed Merit & Virtue in the rememberance of that illustrious Hero of & most Amiable man who died Dec. 14 1799. / Designed, Engraved & Published by Akin & Harrison Junr. Philada. Jany. 20th 1800."
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