Portrait of George Washington (1732-1799)

Dateca. 1865

Attributed to William Matthew Prior (1806-1873)

MediumReverse oil painting on glass

DimensionsUnframed: 21 1/2 x 17in. (54.6 x 43.2cm) and Framed: 26 7/8 x 23 1/8in.

Credit LineGift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller

Object number1932.500.2

DescriptionA bust-length portrait of a man in a white wig turned to the right. He wears a white, frilled shirt, white neck cloth, and black coat. Period replacement 2 3/4-inch cove-molded and gilded frame.Label TextWilliam Matthew Prior was a long-time admirer of Gilbert Stuart and even named his eldest son Gilbert Stuart Prior after the renowned American artist. Probably inspired by Stuart's famous portrait of George Washington, which was sold by Martha Washington to the Boston Athenaeum in 1828, Prior painted an oil portrait on panel of the first president as early as 1830. In 1850, reportedly after three years of persistent effort, Prior was given permission to make a direct copy of the Athenaeum Washington; this version, which now resides in the Watertown, Massachusetts, Public LIbrary, is inscribed on the back "Copy from G. Stuart/By Wm. M. Prior/1850." That oil or another like it evidently served as a model for the numerous likenesses that Prior reverse-painted on glass; most known examples date from the 1860s, but Prior continued to produce them until his death in 1873.

Prior painted other famous Americans on glass, including Martha Washington. One pair of the George and Martha Washington portraits bears a verso inscription indicating that in 1868 the artist charged $8 for a single glass painting and $15 for the Washington pair.ProvenanceFound in Hanover, New Hampshire and purchased by Mrs. Rockefeller.