Dear Miss                             Cambridge December the 30th 1775

I now sit down to tell you…

Edward Savage’s iconic portrait of the Washington Family was originally painted c. 1789-1790. George Washington purchased two engravings of the painting to display at Mount Vernon (one of which is pictured here). It portrays George and Martha…

This bowl has been passed down through generations of Dandridge descendants and is known as the “Dandridge Christening Bowl.”  It is an example of famille verte ware, a style of Chinese porcelain. Although the bowl’s…

George Washington ordered this expensive English harpsichord in 1793 for Nelly Custis, his step-granddaughter. It came to Mount Vernon in 1797 when the Washingtons returned home after the Presidency. Nelly’s harpsichord performances were an…

This watercolor miniature of Martha Washington was executed by James Peale near the end of Martha’s time as First Lady. She is portrayed at sixty-five, and her lively expression gives the portrait a lifelike characteristic. The reverse side…

After painting miniatures of Martha Washington and her children four years earlier, Charles Willson Peale was commissioned by Martha to portray her husband in a miniature. George was at the front and thus could not sit for the portrait, so Peale…

Martha Washington’s daughter Patsy was sixteen when this miniature portrait was painted by Charles Willson Peale. Patsy suffered from what was probably epilepsy, and a year after this portrait was executed would die as the result of a seizure…

This miniature portrait, painted in 1772 by Charles Willson Peale, is the earliest depiction of Martha after her marriage to George Washington and is a rare depiction painted before Washington’s presidential years. She is 41 years old at the…

This miniature portrait of John Parke (Jacky) Custis was executed by Charles Willson Peale. Jacky brought the painter with him to Mount Vernon when returning home from his studies in Annapolis. Jacky was eighteen when this portrait was painted. …