Image courtesy of The Potomack Company
Pastel portrait of St. John the Evangelist once owned by George Washington will go up for sale next month in Alexandria.
As the auction house in George Washington's hometown of Alexandria (and named after his canal company, The Potomack Company), "we are honored to offer for auction in October an important and rare piece of artwork from Washington’s Mount Vernon,” Potomack Co. owner Elizabeth Haynie Wainstein announced Monday.
“A pastel portrait of St. John the Evangelist is one of the few pieces of religious art Washington displayed at his home," she said. "He was a strong advocate for religious freedom, but was not very outspoken about his own religious beliefs, which adds to its significance.”
The piece is remarkable on several fronts, the auction house noted. It is one of a fairly limited number of extant items that can be authenticated as furnishings from Washington's Mount Vernon, and it is one that Washington displayed prominently in a central and very visible part of the house.
As explained on the Mount Vernon website, the New Room was a "formal space used for receiving visitors, showcasing art and sometimes for dining." According to a Mount Vernon curator, “George Washington displayed very little sacred art in his home. In fact, there are just two pieces in the entire house that could be classified as religious." The pastel portrait and a portrait of the Virgin Mary, were listed in inventory records upon Washington's death as “1 likeness ‘St. John’” and “1 [likeness] Virgin Mary.
Photo courtesy of The Potomack Company
Artwork to go on sale can be seen on display at Mount Vernon in this photo.
Washington’s affinity for this particular religious painting may be due to the fact that St. John the Evangelist is the patron saint of Freemasonry, and Washington was a proud and active member of Masonic lodges in Fredericksburg and Alexandria from age 20 until his death, the auction house noted. At his first inauguration in 1789 Washington swore his oath with his hand resting on the Bible from St. John's Lodge in New York City.
This painting also has a documented history from Washington's lifetime to today — a history that is intertwined with that of the companion Virgin Mary portrait. Both portraits hung in Washington's New Room and have matching original 18th century gilded rococo frames; they were listed together in inventories upon the deaths of George and Martha Washington; they were both referenced in auction records from the 19th century; and both were purchased and passed down through the families of Washington descendants.
The Virgin Mary portrait was ultimately acquired from a Washington descendant by Mount Vernon, where it currently hangs in the New Room. The Saint John portrait is owned by another Washington descendant and was on loan until 2014 to Mount Vernon, where it also hung in the New Room alongside the Virgin Mary portrait. (Complete provenance detailed in the catalog.)
This piece is being offered along with other historically significant items that descended in this family that traces back to both Washington and George Mason. Among those items are: • George Washington’s watermarked writing paper, 18th century, with Liberty in the center and the name GEORGE WASHINGTON in a circular design surrounding her, surmounted by a griffin. There are two possible paper mills in Pennsylvania that may have manufactured paper for Washington, according to Mount Vernon.
• A pair of late 18th-century Chinese export ‘Urnes Mysterieuses’ from descendants of George Mason and his son, John Mason, who figured prominently in business development in Washington, D.C.
• A yellow-gold bracelet with a clasp engraved with George Washington’s coat of arms and “Mount Vernon” accompanied by an 1861 letter from silversmith Samuel Kirk & Sons of Baltimore to John Augustine A. Washington III, great-grand nephew of George Washington and the last private owner of Mount Vernon. The bracelet has 14k yellow-gold beads and coffee bean seed pod beads. Washington grew coffee beans at Mount Vernon.
“These historical objects have remained in our family for nearly 250 years, and we think now it is time to share them," said Philip Smucker. "Our late mother, Louisa Fontaine Washington Dawson Smucker, who bequeathed them to us, descends – as we do - from the John Augustine Washington line, which inherited Mount Vernon from his full brother George. The pastel of St. John has been of great meaning to our family and is a unique if not mysterious artifact from our nation’s founding father.”
For more information visit the listing for the artwork here.
