February 2013 Auction Ends Wednesday, February 6th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/6/2013
Two incredibly scarce cut silhouette miniature portraits of President George Washington and First Lady Martha Washington. Portraits were done by their granddaughter, Eleanor ''Nelly'' Parke Custis when she was just 17, whom they adopted along with her brother in 1781 after her father, Martha Washington's first husband, passed away. Silhouette miniatures depict George and Martha Washington in profile, each quite accurate. Portraits were most likely done at Mt. Vernon in the summer of 1796, as Washington left Philadelphia for his home in Mt. Vernon to join Custis and his family at that time. Miniatures measure 2'' x 3'' and are cut from black paper and affixed to a now aged and toned piece of white paper. Both portraits include a handwritten caption along bottom, possibly by Custis, reading, ''The General as cut / by Nelly Custis 1796'' and ''Lady Washington as cut / by Nelly Custis 1796''. George Washington's profile is separated from the white sheet it was once affixed to, measuring 4'' x 4.5''. Martha Washington's white sheet measures 4'' x 4.75'' with an uneven left edge and dampstaining along bottom affecting caption, though still legible. Included is an LOA signed by Anne Apfelbaum, the great-great-great granddaughter of a Brigadier General of the Pennsylvania Militia Frazer, who was captured by the British Army during the Revolutionary War and released after he wrote to President Washington asking for his help. Frazer apparently inherited the miniatures and kept them in the family.
Rare 1796 Miniature Portraits of President George & Martha Washington -- Done Personally by Washington's Granddaughter When She Was 17-Years-Old
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