Laedy Waschingtonc. 1780Sheet: 7 3/4 x 6 1/4 "
Frame: 16 7/8 x 14 1/2 x 1/2 "Watercolor and ink on paperGift of Ralph Esmerian2005.8.410fraktur1545023341The Sussel-Washington ArtistDrawingsThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain.Pennsylvania Germanlower center: "Laedy Waschington"United StatesPennsylvaniaWorks on PaperFrakturStrong inked outlines, vigorous cross-hatching, stippled patterning, and bright color add a powerful dynamic to this drawing of a woman identified as Martha Washington. A masterful hand with pen and ink, the so-called Sussel-Washington Artist worked in various Pennsylvania counties throughout the Revolutionary War period, creating highly decorative drawings and documents that often feature doll-like human figures with pops of color on their cheeks and wearing old-fashioned clothes. Many Pennsylvania Germans who had immigrated to America while it was under British rule felt torn between the new and old factions. In this and other drawings by the artist, cultural ties to Europe and a respect for European sovereignty, even in the years following the war, are evident in such honorifics as “Lady” and “Excellence” inscribed on tributes to George and Martha Washington. The mounted-equestrian pose may have been inspired by seventeenth-century engravings of European nobility, many published in London by Thomas Jenner and engraved by Willem and Simon de Passe.
Stacy C. Hollander, “Laedy Waschington,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.WORKS ON PAPERStrong inked outlines, vigorous cross-hatching, stippled patterning, and bright color add a powerful dynamic to this drawing of a woman identified as Martha Washington. A masterful hand with pen and ink, the so-called Sussel-Washington Artist worked in various Pennsylvania counties throughout the Revolutionary War period, creating highly decorative drawings and documents that often feature doll-like human figures with pops of color on their cheeks and wearing old-fashioned clothes. Many Pennsylvania Germans who had immigrated to America while it was under British rule felt torn between the new and old factions. In this and other drawings by the artist, cultural ties to Europe and a respect for European sovereignty, even in the years following the war, are evident in such honorifics as “Lady” and “Excellence” inscribed on tributes to George and Martha Washington. The mounted-equestrian pose may have been inspired by seventeenth-century engravings of European nobility, many published in London by Thomas Jenner and engraved by Willem and Simon de Passe.
Stacy C. Hollander, “Laedy Waschington,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgSimilar example in AARFAC. Sotheby's: "This very rare fraktur is one of a small and disctinctive group executed in Bethel Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania during the last decade of the 18th century which are decorated with figures of elaborately and colorfully clad gentlemen, often with hunting horns and ladies with 'beehive' headdresses. Within this group, a smaller number illustrate notable personages, like George and Martha Washington. Amongst the most well-known of this smaller group is the fraktur drawing captioned Ledy Waschingdon and his Exselenc Georg General Waschingdon, now in the collection of the AARFAC. The Ledy and General Georg Waschingdon drawing was acquired at the dispersal of the collection of the late Arthur J. Sussel (Parke-Bernet, October 1958, lot 294) at which point the term 'Washington-Sussel Artist' came to apply to this artist and body of work. It, too, as in the current example, was found in Ohio. To our knowledge the present example is the only other fraktur drawing bearing the inscription Laedy Waschington to have yet come to light.17751785 2005 8 41 FrakturStrong inked outlines, vigorous cross-hatching, stippled patterning, and bright color add a powerful dynamic to this drawing of a woman identified as Martha Washington. A masterful hand with pen and ink, the so-called Sussel-Washington Artist worked in various Pennsylvania counties throughout the Revolutionary War period, creating highly decorative drawings and documents that often feature doll-like human figures with pops of color on their cheeks and wearing old-fashioned clothes. Many Pennsylvania Germans who had immigrated to America while it was under British rule felt torn between the new and old factions. In this and other drawings by the artist, cultural ties to Europe and a respect for European sovereignty, even in the years following the war, are evident in such honorifics as “Lady” and “Excellence” inscribed on tributes to George and Martha Washington. The mounted-equestrian pose may have been inspired by seventeenth-century engravings of European nobility, many published in London by Thomas Jenner and engraved by Willem and Simon de Passe.
Stacy C. Hollander, “Laedy Waschington,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.WORKS ON PAPERStrong inked outlines, vigorous cross-hatching, stippled patterning, and bright color add a powerful dynamic to this drawing of a woman identified as Martha Washington. A masterful hand with pen and ink, the so-called Sussel-Washington Artist worked in various Pennsylvania counties throughout the Revolutionary War period, creating highly decorative drawings and documents that often feature doll-like human figures with pops of color on their cheeks and wearing old-fashioned clothes. Many Pennsylvania Germans who had immigrated to America while it was under British rule felt torn between the new and old factions. In this and other drawings by the artist, cultural ties to Europe and a respect for European sovereignty, even in the years following the war, are evident in such honorifics as “Lady” and “Excellence” inscribed on tributes to George and Martha Washington. The mounted-equestrian pose may have been inspired by seventeenth-century engravings of European nobility, many published in London by Thomas Jenner and engraved by Willem and Simon de Passe.
Stacy C. Hollander, “Laedy Waschington,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgSimilar example in AARFAC. Sotheby's: "This very rare fraktur is one of a small and disctinctive group executed in Bethel Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania during the last decade of the 18th century which are decorated with figures of elaborately and colorfully clad gentlemen, often with hunting horns and ladies with 'beehive' headdresses. Within this group, a smaller number illustrate notable personages, like George and Martha Washington. Amongst the most well-known of this smaller group is the fraktur drawing captioned Ledy Waschingdon and his Exselenc Georg General Waschingdon, now in the collection of the AARFAC. The Ledy and General Georg Waschingdon drawing was acquired at the dispersal of the collection of the late Arthur J. Sussel (Parke-Bernet, October 1958, lot 294) at which point the term 'Washington-Sussel Artist' came to apply to this artist and body of work. It, too, as in the current example, was found in Ohio. To our knowledge the present example is the only other fraktur drawing bearing the inscription Laedy Waschington to have yet come to light.