Imported Chinese luxury goods had long been popular in the American colonies. Such goods became more readily available when trade with China opened up after the Revolution. George Washington purchased this lacquered Chinese dressing glass for his…

Soon after his arrival in America in 1796, Benjamin Henry Latrobe became friends with Bushrod Washington, nephew of George Washington. At Bushrod’s invitation, Latrobe visited Mount Vernon during his time in Virginia. This watercolor depicts…

This iconic view of the west front of Mount Vernon is the earliest known pictorial representation of the house and grounds. There is a similar painting of the east front. This view is particularly interesting for its portrayal of domesticity. In the…

In early America, bibles were often used to record important dates and events in a family’s history. The Washington family bible was used for this purpose. An interleaved page records in meticulous handwriting the marriage of Augustine…

Like most members of Virginia’s planter class, the Washingtons were Anglicans. It is not surprising, then, that this copy of the Book of Common Prayer is among the books that were associated with Martha Washington. According to the…

This collection of popular songs was well-known both in England and in colonial America. In 1758, Martha Custis ordered the work from Robert Cary, one of her London agents. The collection would have been used for communal singing as part of social or…

This bathing gown is a rare example of the survival of a complete garment worn by Martha Washington. The gown, made of blue and white linen with lead weights sown into the hem for modesty, was probably worn by Martha on a 1769 trip to the mineral…

St. Peter’s Church, established in 1679 in New Kent County, Virginia, was the family church of both the Custises and Dandridges. The fathers of both Martha Dandridge and Daniel Parke Custis were vestrymen at the church, as was Custis himself…

This condolence letter from a 'society of Females' (a group of four young women from Rhode Island) is effusive in its praise of the departed General Washington. The women ask Martha Washington for a lock of her husband’s hair, then in a…

Samuel Vaughan, an Englishman who immigrated to America, visited Mount Vernon in August 1787. In his journal, he described Mount Vernon and made the earliest-known sketch of the grounds. He later mailed George Washington a more detailed and…