George Washington

Status

Not on view

Label Text

This profile portrait of George Washington was inspired by an original pastel by James Sharples, the renowned British pastellist, for whom the President sat at least once. This work and its pendant, of Martha Washington, were probably produced in the late 19th century, most likely using Sharples copies now owned by the Bristol Art Gallery as a source. Perhaps reflecting later tastes, the artist who produced these oils simplified the Sharples backgrounds, darkened their palette, and enlarged the images.

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Datec. 1840-1882

After James Sharples (English, 1751/2 - 1811)

Subject George Washington (American, 1732 - 1799)

Geography Possibly made - England

Medium/TechniqueOil on canvas

DimensionsOther (Framed in D-79.1): 36 in. × 31 1/2 in. × 3 1/2 in. (91.44 cm × 80.01 cm × 8.89 cm)

Credit LineAcquired through the generosity of the Connoisseur Society of Mount Vernon, 2014

Object numberM-5362/A-B

DescriptionBust length, profile portrait of George Washington in civilian attire, facing proper right with shoulders slightly turned to the proper left. He wears a black velvet coat and matching waistcoat with a white stock and shirt ruffle. He is shown with fair skin, reddened lips and cheeks, blue eyes rimmed underneath with brown pigment, and long sideburns. His hair is powdered and worn ‘en queue,’ and tied with a gray ribbon. There is a light application of pale gray along the back of the collar, which extends very slightly toward the proper left shoulder. The portrait is lit from the proper right, and the background is in tones of dark brown.
Published ReferencesKatherine McCook Knox, The Sharples (New York: Kennedy Graphics, Inc., 1972), 63-65.

Gustavus A. Eisen, Portraits of Washington, (New York: Robert Hamilton & Associates, 1932), 2: 527, 531. (Perhaps referring to this work as “The Walker-Cary Oil.”)

John Hill Morgan and Mantle Fielding The Life Portraits of George Washington and Their Replicas (Philadelphia, 1931), 397-398.

John Hill Morgan, “The Truth and George Washington,” Antiques, 6: No. 1 (July 1924), 13- 14.

George H. Sargent, “The Portraiture of Our First President,” Antiques, 5: No. 2 (February 1924).

Kate Sanborn, “Coming to Washington: Some Rare and Valuable Portraits to be Offered to the Government,” Washington Post, November 15, 1886. [Not located]

“The Historical Society: The Alleged Sharples Portraits of Washington--Significant Report of a Committee, Published by a Vote of the Society,” Boston Post, January 14, 1887.

James Walter, Memorials of Washington and of Mary, His Mother, And Martha, His Wife, From Letters and Papers of Robet Caary and James Sharples. (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1887).

James Walter, History and Descriptive Details of Middleton's Portraits of Mary, the Mother of Washington and Mary Phillipse (Washington's Early Love), Also of the Sharples Portraits of Washington and Martha, His Wife. (Frank Wood: Boston, 1886).

“Portraits of the Washingtons,” Boston Daily Globe, May 3, 1882, 3.

E.B. Johnston, Original Portraits of Washington (J.R. Osgood and Co: Boston, 1882), 132.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Portraits of Washington (exhibition catalogue) (Museum of Fine Arts: Boston, 1882), cat. 249.

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