Member of the Washington Family

Copied James Peale, Member of the Washington Family, ca. 1795, watercolor on ivory, sight 2 x 1 5⁄8 in. (5.1 x 4.1 cm) oval, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund, 1950.10.2
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Member of the Washington Family
Artist
Date
ca. 1795
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sight 2 x 1 5⁄8 in. (5.1 x 4.1 cm) oval
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund
Mediums
Mediums Description
watercolor on ivory
Classifications
Keywords
  • Landscape
  • Portrait — unidentified — child
  • Portrait — unidentified — Washington
  • Portrait — unidentified — bust
Object Number
1950.10.2
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1950.10.2

Artwork Description

Family lore holds that this brooch pin features the portrait of an illegitimate son of George Washington, fathered when Washington was eighteen years old. Washington lent financial support to neighbors and members of his extended family at Mount Vernon, making it difficult to determine how accurate that legend is. One theory is that this is the likeness of Corbin Washington (1765-1799), who married Hannah Lee, a daughter of Richard Henry Lee, in whose family this miniature descended.