Martha Washington
John Cheney
ca. 1859
Medium
Painting-Miniature
Classification
Painting-Miniature
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Mary Elizabeth Spencer
Accession Number
1999.27.6
Tags
bust
About this artwork
In 1757, the year her first husband died, Martha Dandridge Custis (1731-1802) sat for a portrait by John Wollaston. Martha was then only twenty-six years old, and within two years would marry her second husband, George Washington. Wollastonâs portrait of Martha was engraved in 1859 by John Cheney, of the firm Cheney & Kellogg. Cheney then painted this miniature, based on his own engraving.