Martha Washington

John Cheney, John Wollaston, Martha Washington, ca. 1859, watercolor on ivory, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Mary Elizabeth Spencer, 1999.27.6
Copied 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
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
Mediums Description
watercolor on ivory
Classifications
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.