Pin
Label Text
While her husband was president, Martha Washington understood her role as a national figure and the meaning conveyed by her personal appearance. This seed pearl pin was likely one of the "pearl pins and earrings for Mrs. Washington" purchased from New York jeweler Mr. M. Roberts on December 5, 1789. Seed pearl jewelry achieved great popularity in federal America.
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Datec. 1789
Medium/TechniquePearl, mother of pearl, silver
DimensionsOverall: 1 3/4 in. x 2 1/2 in. (4.45 cm x 6.35 cm)
Credit LineGiven in memory of Lucy Ware Lewis McCormick, 1946
Object numberW-1444/A
DescriptionBird-form pin composed of seed pearls affixed to a three piece, mother-of-pearl backing; seed pearls outline the form of the body and wings of the bird and fill in the upper half of the wings; eight pearls in graduated sizes, each encircled by smaller seed pearls, are mounted along the body of the bird, with the largest pearl at the tail and the smallest at the head; a silver crescent shaped bar supports the wings on the back of the bird; a silver-gilt pin clasp is mounted vertically along the body of the bird on its back.Published ReferencesJeanmarie Andrews, "Stringing Patterns of Pearls," Early American Life (February 2009): 11.
Carol Borchert Cadou, The George Washington Collection: Fine and Decorative Arts at Mount Vernon (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2006), 238.
Martha Gandy Fales, Jewelry in America: 1600-1900 (Woodbridge, Suffolk, England: Antique Collectors' Club, 1995), 108.
Martha Gandy Fales, "The Jewelry," The Magazine Antiques 135/2 (February 1989): 516.
M. J. Gibbs, "Precious Artifacts: Women's Jewelry in the Chesapeake, 1750-1799," Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts 13/1 (May 1987): 83.
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