GEORGE WASHINGTON

An outstanding survival of one of James Sharples’ pastel portraits of George Washington, this work is distinguished by its early record as a gift from President George Washington to Hannah Phillips Cushing (aka Madam Cushing) (1754-1834) and its subsequent direct descent in her family. In 1853, George Washington Parke Custis (1781-1857), President Washington’s adopted son, wrote to the then owner of this portrait, Henry Bowers (1781-1861) and stated that it was presented to Bowers’ aunt, Hannah Cushing, in April of 1796 (Letter, Custis to Bowers, 1853, accompanies the sale of this portrait). Custis was painted by Sharples around the same time, so would likely have had first-hand knowledge of such a gift. Furthermore, the Washingtons and Cushings had many close ties, making such a gift highly likely. Hannah’s husband, Judge William Cushing (1732-1810), was one of the first five Supreme Court Justices and served from 1790 to 1810. In 1793, Judge Cushing administered the Oath of Office to Washington for his second term as President and in 1796 was appointed Chief Justice, but declined due to ill health. Furthermore, the Cushings and Washingtons, living in the then capitol, Philadelphia, were in close proximity at the time this portrait was executed and several instances are known in which the two couples dined together during this time. Also, as recorded in a 1797 letter from William Cushing to his niece, Sharples shared living quarters with the Cushings and rendered portraits of both William and Hannah Cushing (Doris Devine Fanelli and Karie Diethorn, History of the Portrait Collection, Independence National Historical Park (Philadelphia, 2001), p. 113); for the Cushing portraits, see Neil Jeffares, Dictionary of pastellists before 1800, available at pastllists.com, nos. J.675.228, .229).

After the Cushings retired from Philadelphia, this portrait of Washington adorned their Scituate, Massachusetts home, Walnut Tree Hill, where it hung in the dining room alongside their Sharples’ portraits of President John Adams and Judge and Madam Cushing (Daughters of the American Revolution, Chief Justice Cushing Chapter, Old Scituate (Boston, 1921), pp. 50, 53). As specified in her 1833 will, Hannah Cushing bequested this portrait to her nephew, Henry Bowers (1781-1861). In 1843-1844, Bowers loaned the portrait along with the portrait of John Adams to President John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), who had copies made in oil, as documented by an 1844 letter from John Quincy Adams to Henry Bowers that accompanies the sale of this portrait. Rendered by Edward Dalton Marchant, these oil copies are in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (acc. nos. 1950.6.3, 1950.6.4) (see also David Meschutt, “A Long-Lost Portrait of John Adams and an Unknown Portrait of Abigail Adams by James Sharples,” The American Art Journal, vol. 32, no. 1⁄2 (2001), p. 89). In 1853, George Washington Parke Custis examined this portrait and compared it to his own example (now at Mount Vernon). Referring to both his and Bowers’ portraits, Custis wrote “I further certify that these portraits are the most truthful likenesses of Washington, ever taken of that great ‘Father of his Country’” (Letter, Custis to to Henry Bowers, 1853, accompanies the sale of this portrait).