Locket with hair of George Washington

Locket
Gold, coppr, glass, ivory, paper, human hair
1797

Status

Not on view

Label Text

Following the end of his presidency and prior to his departure from Philadelphia, George and Martha Washington paid a visit to the Secretary of the Treasury, Oliver Wolcott and his wife, Elizabeth. Washington had appointed Wolcott in 1795, and the two men shared many professional and personal ties. The intimacy of their relationship is exemplified by this locket containing a lock of Washington's hair, said to have been cut by Martha during their visit and presented to Elizabeth as a "memorial to the General." It was likely set soon after to be worn as a testament of their mutual affection.

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Date1797

Geography Probably made - United StatesProbably made - United States

Medium/TechniqueGold, copper, glass, ivory, paper, human hair

DimensionsOverall: 2 3/4 in. x 1 5/8 in. x 7/16 in. (6.99 cm x 4.14 cm x 1.12 cm)

Credit LineBequest of George Gibbs V, 1940

Object numberW-1150

DescriptionLock of hair set in oval gold, faced, pendant mount. An oval of ivory serves as the backdrop for a lock of red, blond, and white hair bound by a length of silver-wrapped thread. The hair is housed in a two-part mount with a plain back and a thin bezel at front to receive the glass cover. The top of the setting is fitted with an applied loop surmounted by a bead. On the reverse of the setting is a brooch pin. At the center of the verso is an engraved inscription: "Hair of/ George Washington/ cut by Martha Washington, 1797/ for Mrs. Oliver Wolcott/ great-grandmother of/ George Gibbs V".
Published ReferencesGeorge Gibbs, will dated 21 November 1935, will proved 28 May 1940, Curatorial File: W-1150, Mount Vernon Ladies Association, Mount Vernon, Virginia.

Nathaniel Hervey, The Memory of Washington; With Biographical Sketches of His Mother and Wife. Relations of Lafayette to Washington; With Incidents and Anecdotes in the Lives of the Two Patriots (Boston, Massachusetts: J. Munroe, 1852), 39.

George Gibbs, Memoirs of the Administrations of Washington and John Adams, Edited from the Papers of Oliver Wolcott, Secretary of the Treasury, vol. 1, Memoirs of the Federal Administrations (New York: Printed for the subscribers, 1846), 449-450.

Emily (nee Mifflin) Hopkinson, to Laura Gibbs, 26 May 1850, photostat of original letter, Curatorial File: W-1150, Mount Vernon Ladies Association, Mount Vernon, Virginia.

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