Archive for the ‘Object Spotlight’ Category

In 1751, during his one and only voyage off the North American continent, George Washington accompanied his brother Lawrence to Barbados. While there, he picked up a piece of white coral that he held on to as a memento for the rest of his life.

In another Washington-coral encounter, it appears the General gave a red coral necklace to Nelly Custis (Martha Washington’s granddaughter, whom the Washingtons took in as an adopted daughter). Was Washington a fan of this sightly creature from the sea? Hard to say, but it looks like it.

One thing that we can be sure of is that Washington liked to give gifts. Upon returning home from the Revolutionary War in December of 1783, for example, he purchased various “sundries” for his family including a locket, three small pocket books, three thimbles, three sashes, a dress cap, a hat, a handkerchief, children’s books, a whirligig, a fiddle, a gun and some quadrille boxes.

It’s unknown when Washington gave Custis the necklace, which is thought to date from sometime between 1775 and 1800. Made of coral, ribbon and string, the necklace has two strands, one with small beads and another with irregular, tubular pieces of coral.

The necklace is not currently on display, but it and the envelope that contained it, which explains the piece’s early provenance, can be seen above. The message on the envelope reads “Worn by / Nellie Custis / & presented to her / by Gen Washington / Inherited from my Aunt Martha Custis Williams / George L Upshur.”

Assistant Curator Alison Bliss contributed to this report.

Object Spotlight is a regular feature that highlights household belongings used by the Washingtons. Check out Mount Vernon’s eMuseum to explore more Washington belongings.

Gift of Lylee Krech, Kara B. Seymour, Lyttleton B. P. Gould, III and Cyndie Gould, 2010. [2010.012.001/A-B]

The shortest days of the year are upon us, which also means it’s the season when George Washington was likely putting his set of Argand lamps to good use.

The General, ever the fan of new technology, was an ardent supporter of this new method of household illumination, which provided significantly more light than the candles that had previously lit Mount Vernon.

“These lamps, it is said, consume their own smoke — do no injury to furniture — give more light — and are cheaper than candles,” Washington wrote in 1790 to fellow statesman and founding father Gouverneur Morris.

Washington received his first Argand lamp as a gift while presiding over the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. He responded to the woman who gave it to him that “the benefits which will flow from the general use of such Lamps, are too apparent for the light of them to be long hid from the American World.”

Although lamp oil (such as the whale oil or spermaceti that was commonly used) was more expensive than candles, the quality of the oil lamp’s light and burn time could offset its cost over time.

Washington was a convert. In his letter to Morris, who was in London, Washington asked him to pick up 26 such lamps for the presidential residence — 14 of the tabletop variety and 12 for hanging on the wall.

Morris complied, journaling on April 22 of the same year that he had sought out the lamps. He purchased them on May 3. Today one of the very same 14 table lamps is on view in the Bringing Them Home exhibition in the F.M. Kirby Gallery in the Reynolds Museum until the exhibit closes on January 8, 2012. Another is on permanent view in the General’s study, where it would have shed light on Washington’s secretary bookcase along the west wall.

Associate Curator Laura Simo contributed to this report.

Object Spotlight is a regular feature that highlights household belongings used by the Washingtons. Check out Mount Vernon’s eMuseum to explore more Washington belongings.

Gift of Katherine Merle-Smith Thomas, 2008 [W-2910]

Horns sounding in the forest were like Christmas music to the 18th-century ear at Mount Vernon, where the General was known to hunt with his male counterparts, particularly during the holiday season, when horns such as this cut through the silence of the Virginia forest, in a tuneful attempt to keep a hunting party managed and hounds on course.

Compared to other horns of the hunting variety, George Washington’s was of a higher musical quality than most, with characteristics that make historians believe it was originally intended for use in an orchestra.

In the wee, cold hours Washington and his party would head out on their hunting foray. On January 4, 1772, Washington, his neighbor Bryan Fairfax and three male companions set out from Mount Vernon. No doubt accompanied by a pack of hounds, it’s possible that one or several of Washington’s slaves who served as huntsmen — such as Washington’s valet Billy Lee and his brother Frank Lee — played the horn, an arduous task for even the most skilled of horsemen. In his diary Washington recorded that they “Found both a Bear & Fox but got neither …”

During the fall and winter Washington participated in hunts up to three times a week and particularly enjoyed hunting for fox during the Christmas season. From his ledgers we know that Washington purchased at least four horns over the course of his life. Keeping in mind that18th-century Americans didn’t celebrate Christmas in the same manner we do today, but instead spent the day visiting or participating in religious activities, it’s not a bad way to pass the Christmas season.

Assistant Curator Alison Bliss contributed to this report.

Object Spotlight is a regular feature that highlights household belongings used by the Washingtons. Check out Mount Vernon’s eMuseum to explore more Washington belongings.

Gift of Judge James Alfred Pearce, 1921 [W-81]

Loungewear is not the couture that George Washington is particularly remembered for, but his banyan — a robe-like vestment meant for the summer months — is notable for the fact that Washington was purportedly wearing it when he died 212 years ago on December 14, 1799.

In an unusually macabre sartorial twist, the robe is even more notable for its purported death-related Washington bloodstain.

Those familiar with the General’s demise will call to mind that Washington didn’t die from especially bloody or violent causes — he contracted epiglottis (then referred to as quinsy), in which swelling of the epiglottis makes swallowing and eventually breathing impossible. Only 36 hours after Washington first showed symptoms of illness did he ultimately suffocate and pass away.

If not from a bloody death then what was the stain from? The blood on Washington’s gown emanated from some of the particularly gory solutions people in the 18th century sought to assuaged illness. Bloodletting was immediately performed by one of Washington’s overseers before Washington’s personal physician, Dr. Craik, could arrive on the scene from nearby Alexandria, Va. (It would also be applied several more times in the ensuing hours.) This plus a variety of other treatments are recorded in the diary entry of Washington’s personal secretary, Tobias Lear, who was in the room as treatments were applied and Washington eventually died. Molasses, vinegar and butter were mixed and prepared to sooth Washington’s throat, but he could not swallow it. A piece of flannel dipped in a substance Lear refers to as “salvolatila” was wrapped around Washington’s neck, and his feet were soaked. Blistering was also performed on Washington. Lear records application of Spanish fly, an insect that when used in a poultice would cause blistering. Doctors in that era would also place a small cup upon the skin. A small piece of lint was lit on fire within the cup causing a vacuum that then produced a blister on the skin.

None of this worked for Washington.

Through all or at least a part of this, Washington purportedly wore his red and blue check-printed cotton banyan. No attempt at scientific verification has been made to validate the bloodstain as Washington’s. Because the cut of the robe is not generally seen until later in the 19th century and because one of the banyan’s owners is known to have forged some Washington documents and dispersed fake artifacts, the robe’s provenance comes into question. The story goes that the banyan was passed down to Martha Washington’s grandson, George Washington Parke Custis, after Washington’s death. All facts considered, the mystery of the bloody robe is likely one for the ages.

Object Spotlight is a regular feature that highlights household belongings used by the Washingtons. Check out Mount Vernon’s eMuseum to explore more Washington belongings.

Banyan: Purchase, 1962 [W-2407/A]