Images(2)

Miniature Portrait of Martha Dandridgde Custis Washington (Mrs. George Washington)(1731-1802)

Date1791-1792

Artist Archibald Robertson (1765-1835)

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

MediumWatercolor on ivory in silver case with glass crystal

DimensionsOH: 2 1/2"; OW: 2 1/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase through the generosity of an Anonymous Donor

Object number1956-44,2

DescriptionMiniature painting, portrait of Martha (Dandridge) Washington; oval bust-length, one-quarter left; she wears on her gray hair, a large white "mob" cap with lace-trimmed, ruffled edging and black bow in front; she wears white fichu and brownish red dress with black lace scarf over her shoulders; background shading from crimson to purple. Set in a plain, conforming, silver case under glass.
Label TextMartha Washington was a gray-haired, sixty- year-old grandmother when the well-known Scottish artist, Archibald Robertson, painted this miniature. It was a companion portrait to one of George Washington that Robertson executed in preparation for a larger painting during Washington's first term as president. Both miniatures were painted within the six -week period between December 13, 1791, when Robertson arrived in Philadelphia, and the end of January 1792.
John Trumbull, a close friend of the Washingtons and a renowned artist in his own right, commented in 1824 that "If we would behold the countenance of Washington ... when he begain to wane and had lost his teeth, Robertson's portrait is the best." One suspects that Martha's portrait, too, is probably the best glimpse we shall have of this woman in later years. Her contemporaries found Martha capable, gracious, and charming, and at her death she was memoralized as "the worthy partner of the worthiest of men."
MarkingsNone found. In November 1997, the miniatures' cases were examined under magnification by CWF metals curator John D. Davis, who found no markings now legible. (A mark on one of the two cases that conceivably may have been a maker's mark is now too abraded and distorted to read).
ProvenanceThis miniature and its companion portrait of George Washington were painted from life and probably executed during the same two-month period. Robertson kept the pair, recording that they were "to remain in his family as an heirloom, and memorial of his veneration for the great and successful champion of American liberty."

The pair descended to from the artist to his granddaughters, Mrs. S. M. Mygatt of Brooklyn, NY, and Mrs. C. W. Darling of Utica, NY; thence to Mrs. Mygatt's son, Otis Angelo Mygatt; thence to Kenneth Mygatt, a great-great grandson of the artist. The pair were purchased from Kenneth Mygatt by dealer John F. Fleming of New York, NY. CWF's funder acquired the pair from Fleming and presented them to CWF in 1956.