George Washington

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This bust of George Washington by self-taught artist Clark Mills is integrally linked to the widely-admired clay bust by Jean-Antoine Houdon, produced from a life sitting in 1785 (W-369). In 1849, Mills cast his bust directly from a piece mold of Houdon’s original bust, reproducing the Houdon almost exactly. In the process, Mills’ damaged the Houdon, necessitating multiple repairs to the original in the ensuing years. Mills’ cast shows the resultant damages in the areas of the eyes and nose. The cast was left with John Augustine Washington III, Washington descendant and owner of Mount Vernon, and remained at Mount Vernon since that time.

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Date1849

After Jean-Antoine Houdon (French, 1741 - 1828)

Artist Clark Mills (American, 1810 - 1883)

Subject George Washington (American, 1732 - 1799)

Geography Possibly made - United StatesPossibly made - United States

Medium/TechniquePlaster; plaster socle on wooden base

DimensionsOverall (Height with pedestal): 24 in. (60.96 cm)

Credit LineTransferred to the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association through the generosity of John Augustine Washington III, 1860 Conservation courtesy of The Founders, Washington Committee Endowment Fund

Object numberH-709

DescriptionBust portrait of the head and chest of George Washington in plaster, truncated at the shoulders, and mounted on a plaster socle and wooden base. The work is a copy of the 1785 Houdon clay bust (W-369) made from a piece mold, and it is nearly identical to that work. Washington’s head is slightly turned to the proper right and lifted, and his gaze is outward. Washington’s age is intimated through lines on the forehead and crow’s feet at the corners of the eyes, as well as jowls below the chin. The earlobes are rather horizontal, and the ears small. The queue is only partially wrapped, suggesting informality; the gathered hair below the queue is flattened. The nostrils are quite large, particularly at the proper left, and the tip of the nose appears flattened and misshapen. There are numerous air bubbles throughout, particularly in the chest.

A plaque on the wooden base reads: “Presented in 1860 to the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association by John Augustine Washington III.”

Published ReferencesJohn Philip Colletta, “The Workman of C. Mills: Carl Ludwig Richter and the Statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Park, Washington History, 23 (2011): 2-35. (General Reference).

Charles Colbert, “Clark Mills and the Phrenologist,” Art Bulletin, 70, No. 1 (March, 1988): 134-137. (General Reference).

Andrew S. Keck, “A Toast to the Union: Clark Mills' Equestrian Statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square,” Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, DC, 71/72 (1971/1972): 289-313. (General Reference).

Charles Seymour, “Houdon’s Washington at Mount Vernon Re-examined,” Gazette des Beaux-Arts, VI Series, XXXV, NO. 973). (March 1948): 144, 147.

Gustavus Eisen, Portraits of Washington (New York: Robert Hamilton, 1932), 3: 820-824.

John Hill Morgan and Mantle Fielding, The Life Portraits of Washington and Their Replicas (Lancaster, PA: Lancaster Press, 1931), 111-113.

Lorado Taft, The History of American Sculpture (New York: Macmillan Co., 1930), 122-128. (General Reference).

W. O. Hart, "Clark Mills: Paper Read before the Louisiana Historical Society on June 28, 1921,” Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, DC, 24 (1922), 200-203. (General Reference).

Elizabeth Bryant Johnston, Original Portraits of Washington (Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1882), 165-8.

David Bernard Dearinger, Paintings and Sculpture in the Collection of the National Academy of Design, 281-282

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