View of Mount Vernon from the northeast, attributed to Edward Savage, circa 1792. Oil on canvas. A visitor to Mount Vernon thought that the plantation resembled a "rural village." This view, one of the earliest depictions of the mansion, shows several outbuildings on the service lane north of the home, including slave quarters, quarters for the servants of visiting guests, a salt house, a blacksmith shop, and a greenhouse.

 

Treasures from Mount Vernon

MOUNT VERNON, VA. - In honor of the 200th anniversary of the death of George Washington, highlights from his Mount Vernon estate are traveling for the first time, going to museums throughout the country.

"Treasures from Mount Vernon" is on view at the New-York Historical Society, in the city where Washington was sworn in as the nation's first President. There it remains on view through February 22, 1999, before traveling to the Huntington Library Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, Calif., (near Los Angeles) from March 16 through June 6, 1999, to the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond (July 1 through September 19), to the Atlanta History Center (October 14, 1999 through January 6, 2000) and to the Chicago Historical Society (January 28 through April 23, 2000).

As if the monumental figure had come down from Mount Rushmore to circulate among the people, "Treasures from Mount Vernon: George Washington Revealed" brings Americans closer to the flesh-and-blood reality of a man who is much admired but little known - a man who was already legendary within his lifetime, and who became a national icon upon his death in 1799.

Combining period artifacts from Mount Vernon's unparalleled collection with a selection of objects from other private and public institutions, an intricate scale model of Mount Vernon, video presentations and photographic panels, the exhibition brings to life the "Father of His Country" and reveals Washington in all his humanity. Every object in the exhibit dates either to the lifetime of Washington or to the direct aftermath of his death, from the clothing he wore, portraits he sat for, and swords he used to the letters that flowed from his quill pen.

Spearheaded by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, the oldest preservation organization in America, the bicentennial encompasses national symposia held at universities and the Library of Congress; publications; community activities such as parades and tree plantings; year-long commemorative activities at the Mount Vernon Estate, including the return of more than 100 period objects, and a host of major exhibitions organized by private and public organizations across the country.

A ten-minute video presentation, produced by the History Channel, introduces visitors to the historic events that made Washington an icon of American history. The History Channel also produced an attract-screen video presentation that lends insight to Washington's personal and professional life from Twentieth Century perspectives. Interviews are with President Clinton; George Bush; Richard Brookhiser, author of Founding Father; Don Higginbotham, historian and author of George Washington and the American Military Tradition; Letitia Baldridge, leading authority on etiquette and presidential entertaining; and Barry Bostwick, star of the weekly comedy, Spin City, who portrayed the difficult role of George Washington in the CBS mini-series George Washington.

Visitors then enter "The Presence of Washington," the first of six thematic sections, where the physical stature of Washington is evoked. The legendary set of false teeth, a tailored suit, and two portrait paintings by Charles Willson Peale are among the artworks and objects that convey how Washington's demeanor changed over time, from his days as Commander in Chief to the later years as the heavily burdened president.

"Venturing Forth" reviews the course of Washington's early careers, from his work as a surveyor of Western territories through his participation in the French and Indian War. On display in this section are Washington's surveying compass, staff and chain and one of his earliest professional surveys, completed by Washington in his late teens. A bloodstained military sash, given to him by the dying British General Edward Braddock, dramatically evokes Washington's experiences at the Battle of Monongahela (1755), the engagement that made him a hero at age 23 and earned him the post of Commander of the Virginia Regiment.

The centerpiece of the section "Assuming Command" is a full-scale re-creation of the marquee tent used by Washington when he was Commander in Chief of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Visitors see a setting of General Washington's field furnishings, including his folding camp bed and rose blanket, campaign trunks, camp stool, pewter plate and silver camp cup, saddlebags, pistol and holster. Other materials in this section include the earliest oil portrait of Washington known in Europe, by Jean-Baptiste LePaon, originally in the French royal collection; letters from Martha Washington's son; and Washington's spurs and riding crop.

In public life, Washington exerted command through a cool, reserved manner. The fourth and largest section of the exhibition, "The Pleasure of His Company," allows visitors to meet a much warmer Washington, as only his intimate circle of friends knew him. Among the very rare artifacts on view are the only two surviving letters from Washington to his wife Martha (exhibited in rotation); a letter from a sorrowful Washington, reporting the death of his 17-year-old step-daughter, Patsy; original garments of George and Martha Washington; and miniature and pastel portraits of the family. Washington's friendships are represented through objects that include the key to the Bastille, sent to him by the Marquis de Lafayette after the demolition of the French prison, and rarely displayed Martha Washington items such as her wedding slippers and lead-weighted bathing dress. Within a re-creation of the piazza at Mount Vernon, the exhibition displays household items including china, silver, furniture and Washington's field glass.

Also on view in this section is a display devoted to the Mount Vernon slaves that features Washington's handwritten census of his slaves, taken down in July 1799 in preparation for freeing them in his will, a set of dental instruments used in the care of the slave community and archaeological artifacts excavated from the cellar of a Mount Vernon slave quarter.

"On His Own Farm" reveals the degree to which Washington himself managed his estate: overseeing crop rotation plans, designing barns, and managing a distillery, gristmill, and fishing operation on the 8,000-acre property. Washington ordered furnishings for the home as well, and among the objects on view in the exhibition are such decorative items as two porcelain cherubs he ordered for his table from France; his dressing table with razor, powder bag, and toothbrush; sketches in his own hand of his land holdings; the weathervane in the shape of the Dove of Peace from atop the Mount Vernon cupola; and two rare early views of Mount Vernon: an oil painting attributed to Edward Savage, circa 1792, and Samuel Vaughn's 1787 sketch of the estate.

The exhibition's final section, "Getting a Touch of Him," shows how the mythologizing of Washington began during his lifetime and reached a feverish pitch immediately following his death. On view are images of Washington by Peale, John Trumbull and Gilbert Stuart; fictitious portraits made in England and Europe for an audience eager to have a picture of the famous man; and articles associated with Washington's death; and porcelain tableware from Mount Vernon, bestowed by Martha after Washington's death to people begging for something that had belonged to America's first leader.

The exhibition concludes with a display of four of George Washington's swords, with a facsimile of a page from his last will and testament bearing these words: "These swords are accompanied with an injunction not to unsheathe them for purpose of shedding blood, except it be for self defense, or in defense of their Country and its rights; and, in the latter case, to keep them unsheathed, and prefer falling with them in their hand to the relinquishment thereof."

In a separate space from the main exhibition, visitors may view "Mount Vernon in Miniature," an exact replica of the mansion in a scale of one inch to one foot, measuring ten feet long, eight and a half feet high and six feet wide. Created and donated by the people of Washington State, the model contains hundreds of miniature objects, including oil paintings, china, books, tables and more than 100 chairs. A mechanical system allows the walls to lower, so those visitors may see the reproduction of the mansion's third floor.

At the New-York Historical Society, "Treasures from Mount Vernon" will be joined by two other exhibitions: "George Washington: A Man of His Time, A Man for All Times," a rare public showing of some 40 manuscripts from the Gilder Lehrman Collection and from the New-York Historical Society, including a draft of Washington's first inaugural address, written in his own hand; and "The Power and the Glory: George Washington and the Birth of Fame in America," an exhibition of over 40 paintings, textiles, prints, and household and souvenir objects drawn from the Historical Society's collections, demonstrating Washington's unparalleled celebrity throughout the Nineteenth Century.

At the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, "Treasures from Mount Vernon" will be joined by "The Great Experiment: George Washington and the American Republic" (March 16 through June 6, 1999) and at the Virginia Historical Society by "George Washington: The Man Behind the Myth" (July 1 through September 19, 1999) organized by the Historical Society in conjunction with Mount Vernon and Washington and Lee University.

The Octagon Museum in Washington D.C. will open an exhibition showing George Washington in a new light - as a skilled amateur architect and builder - in January 1999. Organized by Mount Vernon and the American Architectural Foundation, "George Washington: Architect" illustrates the personality and character of George Washington through an examination of his approach to architecture and his legacy as a builder in objects ranging from a pencil sketch in Washington's own hand to a design for a 1930s Sears, Roebuck, and Co house kit, modeled after Mount Vernon.

"George Washington: Profile of a Patriot," organized by Mount Vernon, aims to convey the extraordinary level of Washington's fame and celebrity through a selection of some 40 Nineteenth Century prints from the Association's collection. The exhibition travels to Morristown National Historical Park, the Concord Museum, Dwight D. Eisenhower Library-Museum, The Lyceum, Alexandria's History Museum, and The Ohio Historical Center.

On President's Day weekend during this bicentennial year, Washington's estate of Mount Vernon will take a giant step closer toward authenticity, as more than 100 period objects are returned to his home for the year-long anniversary program. A new museum gallery will be unveiled, featuring items from the last decade of Washington's life, and the restored servants' hall will be open for public tours. Visitors will be asked to follow in the footsteps of the mourners at Washington's funeral, and a new multimedia experience will capture the exact moment - 17 days before the dawn of a new century - when Washington died. To accommodate the additional visitors who are expected, Mount Vernon will remain open on weekend evenings during its busiest season.

Among the expected highlights of the 100 returning objects are the last will and testament, borrowed from the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse; a porcelain bowl with a hunting scene, Washington's highboy, and andirons from his bedroom, borrowed from Tudor Place Foundation, Inc; Washington's gaming table and a Masonic jewel, borrowed from Kenmore Plantation and Gardens; and a guitar and guitar case, landscape painting of Genesee Falls, Canton china, bedstead and an easy chair, borrowed from the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.