Johann Martin Will
George Washington, Esqr., General and Commander in Chief of the Continental Army in America.

Public Domain

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Artist Johann Martin WillGerman, 1727–1806, active London

PublisherPublished by Charles ShepherdLondon

CultureEnglish

Titles

George Washington, Esqr., General and Commander in Chief of the Continental Army in America.

Date1775

PlaceLondon, England

MediumMezzotint on paper

DimensionsPlate: 14 1/8 x 9 3/8 in. (35.9 x 23.8 cm)
Sheet (irregular): 14 7/8 x 10 in. (37.8 x 25.4 cm)
Frame (outer): 18 5/8 × 14 × 1 in. (47.3 × 35.6 × 2.5 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by Nick Swyka in honor of Matthew R. Simmons and the partners of Simmons & Company International at "One Great Night in November, 1999"

Object numberB.99.16

Not on view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

PRINTS

DescriptionBy 1775, curiosity about George Washington was international. The potential market for images of the Commander in Chief was growing and so tempting that foreign publishers’ earliest engravings of him were fictitious. Without access to authentic portraits, nor caring about accuracy, enterprising publishers simply adapted portraits with generalized features and posed them in a conventional setting. These mezzotints, and an equestrian view, were the first prints of Washington available in Great Britain. While the print is inscribed “Done from an original Drawn from the Life by Alexr. Campbell of Williamsburg in Virginia,” no such artist is known to exist. A copy of this print was sent to Martha Washington in 1776 and the General, with good humor and resignation, acknowledged the gift “Mrs. Washington desires I will thank you for the picture sent her. Mr. Campbell, whom I never saw to my knowledge, has made a very formidable figure of the Commander in Chief, giving him a sufficient portion of terror in his countenance.”
Provenance[Donald A. Heald Rare Books, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 1999.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Recto: Inscribed in printed ink, below plate, center: Done from an Original, Drawn from the Life by Alexr. Campbell, of Williamsburgh in Virginia. / GEORGE WASHINGTON, Esq.r / GENERAL and COMMANDER in CHIEF of the CONTINENTAL ARMY in AMERICA. / Published as the Act directs. 9. Sept 1775 by C. Shepherd London.
Recto: Inscribed in printed ink, below plate, right: Ioh. Martin Will excud. Aug. Vind.
Recto: Inscribed in ink, below plate, center bottom edge: mort 19.th: 1799 Etat: 67. [in cursive]

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