Martha Washington

John Cheney, John Wollaston, Martha Washington, ca. 1859, watercolor on ivory, image (oval): 1 ¹⁄₁₆ x ¹³⁄₁₆ in. (2.7 x 2.1 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Mary Elizabeth Spencer, 1999.27.6

Free to use

Artwork Details

Title: Martha Washington
Artists: John Cheney
Copy after John Wollaston
Date: ca. 1859
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: image (oval): 1 ¹⁄₁₆ x ¹³⁄₁₆ in. (2.7 x 2.1 cm)
Credit Line: Bequest of Mary Elizabeth Spencer
Mediums: watercolor
Mediums Description: watercolor on ivory
Classifications: Painting
Miniature
Subjects: Portrait female — Washington, Martha — bust
Object Number: 1999.27.6
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1999.27.6

Artwork Description

In 1757, the year her first husband died, Martha Dandridge Custis (1731-1802) sat for a portrait by John Wollaston. Martha was then only twenty-six years old, and within two years would marry her second husband, George Washington. Wollaston’s portrait of Martha was engraved in 1859 by John Cheney, of the firm Cheney & Kellogg. Cheney then painted this miniature, based on his own engraving.