Miniature Portrait of Martha Dandridgde Custis Washington (Mrs. George Washington)(1731-1802)

Martha Washington was a gray-haired, sixty- year-old grandmother when the well-known Scottish artist, Archibald Robertson, painted this miniature. It was a companion portrait to one of George Washington that Robertson executed in preparation for a larger painting during Washington's first term as president. Both miniatures were painted within the six -week period between December 13, 1791, when Robertson arrived in Philadelphia, and the end of January 1792.
John Trumbull, a close friend of the Washingtons and a renowned artist in his own right, commented in 1824 that "If we would behold the countenance of Washington ... when he begain to wane and had lost his teeth, Robertson's portrait is the best." One suspects that Martha's portrait, too, is probably the best glimpse we shall have of this woman in later years. Her contemporaries found Martha capable, gracious, and charming, and at her death she was memoralized as "the worthy partner of the worthiest of men."
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