8

Mid-19th Century

PAIR OF EXCEPTIONAL POLYCHROME SCRIMSHAW WHALE'S TEETH WITH PORTRAITS OF GEORGE AND MARTHA WASHINGTON

Finely executed three-quarter length portraits exhibiting outstanding color and contrast. "Lady Washington" tooth image probably sourced from a plate in The Life of George Washington by Jared Sparks (Boston: Tappen & Dennet, 1843) engraved by J. Cheney & J.G. Kellogg, after the original 1757 painting by John Wollaston. At the time of the portrait, Martha Dandridge, who would have been about age 25, was still married to her first husband, Daniel Parke Custis, who died in 1757. She is wearing a low-cut puffy-sleeve gown with a red bow on the bodice. It is a notably fashionable and svelte portrait, in stark contrast to the more commonplace dowdy likenesses. Portrait enclosed within a red and blue swag border containing white hearts bisected by red stripes and with leaves at each point. Rose garland below title cartouche. "Washington" tooth image probably sourced from a J.B. Forrest engraving published by G.P. Putnam around 1855, after the original 1772 painting by Charles Wilson Peale. Washington, about age 40, is wearing his uniform of colonel of the Virginia Regiment, which he commanded from 1755 to 1758 during the French and Indian Wars, including a feathered cockade, a long scarf, a vest and jacket, and a sword at his side. He has a musket at his back, which would not have been military-issued but possibly references Washington's sport hunting in his retirement years. Portrait enclosed by a red and blue crown-like swag border containing Union shields and with crosses at each point. Patriotic garland of crossed cannons and furled American flags below title cartouche. Martha Washington had commissioned the Peale portrait of her husband as a companion to the 1757 Wollaston portrait of her, and the pair of paintings hung in the front parlor of Mount Vernon. They are now part of the Washington & Lee University collection.
Lengths 6.25".
Condition: Bases cut flat. Martha Washington: Chip re-glued at left edge of base, minimally impacting the garland below the title cartouche. Age crack extending approx. 1" from base. Other unobtrusive scattered age lines. Washington: Scant and unobtrusive age lines, but generally very well-preserved.

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  • Provenance:
    Family history attributes the pair to the collection of Mary Sears Hough, acquired from her great-uncle Nathan Hathaway (1851-1922). On the DeNeuville-Hough side of the family was whaling master Nathan Smith, who commanded the New Bedford whaleship "Java" on an 1864-1868 voyage to the Indian Ocean.

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February 24, 2022 9:30 AM EST
East Dennis, MA, US

Eldred's

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