The Washington Family: George Washington, His Lady, and her Two Grandchildren by the Name of Custis–George Washington, Son Epouse, et Ses Deux petits Enfants du Nom de Custis

The Washington Family: George Washington, His Lady, and her Two Grandchildren by the Name of Custis–George Washington, Son Epouse, et Ses Deux petits Enfants du Nom de Custis

Edward Savage

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Savage based this engraving on his own painting of 1789-96 (now National Gallery, Washington). We are shown the nation's first president and his family gathered at Mount Vernon, their Virginia estate. Dressed in his Revolutionary War uniform, the former general rests one hand on a plan for the new capital city of Washington D.C., resting the other his step-grandson, George Washinton Parke Custis. At the right end of the table, Martha Washington sits near her granddaughter Eleanor Park Custis and a Black servant. The latter has traditionally been identified as William (Billy) Lee, the enslaved valet who attended Washington throughout the Revolutionary War, and then worked at Mount Vernon. Recent research suggests, however, that he may be Christopher Sheets, another enslaved servant. Following the death of their father, Martha's son from her first marriage, the Custis children were raised by their grandmother and step-grandfather. The Potomac River is glimpsed here in the distance, while titles in English and French below the image indicate an anticipated market for this print in France.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Washington Family: George Washington, His Lady, and her Two Grandchildren by the Name of Custis–George Washington, Son Epouse, et Ses Deux petits Enfants du Nom de CustisThe Washington Family: George Washington, His Lady, and her Two Grandchildren by the Name of Custis–George Washington, Son Epouse, et Ses Deux petits Enfants du Nom de CustisThe Washington Family: George Washington, His Lady, and her Two Grandchildren by the Name of Custis–George Washington, Son Epouse, et Ses Deux petits Enfants du Nom de CustisThe Washington Family: George Washington, His Lady, and her Two Grandchildren by the Name of Custis–George Washington, Son Epouse, et Ses Deux petits Enfants du Nom de CustisThe Washington Family: George Washington, His Lady, and her Two Grandchildren by the Name of Custis–George Washington, Son Epouse, et Ses Deux petits Enfants du Nom de Custis

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.