Shoe Buckle Owned and Worn by Washington As President. Shoe buckle, rectangular with curved outline, 2¾ x 2", the silver buckle mounted with clear paste stones centered by two flowerheads, with gold-toned inner rim. In a fitted black morocco case stamped inside, "Shoe Buckle owned and worn by General Washington."
This buckle was lot 202 in the sale of "Relics and Memoribilia of George Washington Inherited and Collected by His Great-Great-Nephew Mr. W. Lanier Washington." It took place on February 22, 1922 at The American Art Galleries, Madison Square South, New York (photocopy of cover and lot description present). The description describes the buckle as "of exquisite French workmanship…enriched with French paste brilliants…." and notes: "This shoe buckle is one of a pair worn by General Washington while President, and which, according to family tradition, were presented to him at the time of his inauguration. It was given by Martha Washington to her nephew, George Washington Bassett, whose daughter was the second wife of the grandfather of the present owner, through whom this buckle came into his hands…." A Feb. 11, 1921 sworn affidavit by William Lanier Washington, giving the history and descent of the buckle, is affixed to the bottom of the case.
In the
Writings of Washington (Fitzpatrick), a letter Washington wrote to the Secretary of State (Timothy Pickering) from Mount Vernon, April 10, 1797, has a postscript: "The Buckles of which you make mention are from Colo. Humphreys to me." Fitzpatrick notes that the buckles to which Washington refers are a pair of knee buckles and a pair of shoe buckles. The beautiful buckle offered here may well have been one of the buckles which caught Pickering's attention and a gift of Col. Humphreys to Washington, to be worn at his first inauguration.
Provenance:
George Washington
Martha Washington
George Washington Bassett (her nephew)
Betty Burnett Lewis (his wife)
Ella More Bassett Washington (her daughter)
William d'Hertburn Washington (her son),
Lewis William Washington
William Lanier Washington (his brother)
Sold American Art Association, New York, Feb. 22, 1922, lot 22
Godfrey A.S. Wieners Collection sold at Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, Oct. 25, 1960, lot 246
Sold Sothebys, New York, Oct. 11, 2001, lot 93
Claude Harkins.
Estimated Value $20,000 - 30,000.
The Claude Harkins Collection of Washingtonia
