Drawings

Portraits form a majority of Colonial Williamsburg’s collection of drawings, but many other types of pictures are represented, too: landscapes, depictions of cities and towns, genre scenes, still life compositions, marine views, mourning pictures, student art, flora and fauna, fraktur, calligraphic drawings, parade banners. In addition, the broadly applied portrait category can include images of particular animals, buildings, and maritime vessels.

Drawings created in Virginia are of special interest, while pictures made in or known to have been used in the Williamsburg area in the 18th century are critical to efforts to furnish buildings in the town’s Historic Area. The geographic range of the collection is much broader, however. It includes some European works, with heavier representation from the 13 original American colonies and, in some cases, beyond. The folk art collection possesses particular depth in New England and New York state portraiture and mourning pictures.