A pair of portrait miniatures: George and Martha Washington, After John Wollaston (1710-1775) and Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827), by Mary Custis Lee (1807-1873)

Sitters identified below portraits on support, signed on verso of each, “Mary Custis Lee,” the portrait of Colonel George Washington inscribed on verso, “Taken from an original portrait at Arlington in the provincial uniform R. Peale," the portrait of Martha Washington inscribed on verso, “Taken from an original portrait at Arlington, size life"; each watercolor on paper, cut and mounted to card stock; George Washington's portrait card printed, “Lee Gallery/ 1869” on verso, and Martha Washington's card embossed, “920 Main Street/ Richmond, VA.”  

3 ½ in. x 2 3/8 in. (sight)

Provenance

The original portraits from which these miniatures were taken, hung at Mount Vernon and later in the Lee House in Arlington, Virginia. The portraits are now in the Washington-Custis-Lee Collection, Washington & Lee University.   

Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee, the last private owner of Arlington House, was the wife of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Well-educated and a fine writer, Mary Custis Lee edited and published the writings of her father, George Washington Parke Custis (1781-1857), the grandson of Martha Washington.