George Washington Parke Custis

Status

On view

Label Text

In the spring of 1785, English painter Robert Edge Pine visited Mount Vernon and painted Martha Washington's four grandchildren as well as her niece. The portraits of the grandchildren were hung in the Washington's bedroom, and were among the "6 Paintings of Mrs. W-ns family [$10 each $60 total] noted on the inventory of household furnishings taken after George Washington's death. This painting is a modern copy of Pine's portrait of Mrs. Washington's four-year-old grandson, George Washington Parke Custis. The original is now in the collection of Washington and Lee University.

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Date1977

Subject George Washington Parke Custis (American, 1781 - 1857)

Artist Adrian Lamb (American, 1901 - 1988)

After Robert Edge Pine (English, c. 1730 - 1788)

Geography Made - United States

Medium/TechniqueOil on canvas

DimensionsOverall: 25 in. x 21 1/8 in. x 2 1/2 in. (63.5 cm x 53.67 cm x 6.35 cm)

Credit LinePurchase, 1981

Object numberM-2794

DescriptionVertical, rectangular, bust-length portrait of a boy with shoulder-length golden brown hair carrying a long, budding branch or sapling in his right hand, his body turned to the viewer's right, and his head turned to left, away from the viewer; he wears a pale-blue suit, with military style frogging or decorative looped braiding and tassels down the front, slashed sleeves that expose the white shirt below, and a broad white collar; part of a red or pink sash around his waist is just visible above the lower edge of the painting; his golden brown hair is cut short around the face in front and left long at the back; gray background, lightest at the lower proper right.

Frame: Gilt on gesso cove-molded frame with floral ornaments at each corner and an egg-and-dart inner border; reproduction frame produced by D. Matt, Inc. (New York, New York) in 1977.

Published ReferencesRobert G. Stewart, Robert Edge Pine: A British Portrait Painter in America 1784-1788 (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979), 50-54. (general reference)

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