[Washington, George] "The Lansdowne Portrait," c. 1830, After Gilbert Stuart, by Sanford Mason, oil on canvas, 30 x 48 in.; in custom-made, period, gold-leaf frame 43 x 49 in. Signed by the artist. The full-length portrait shows Washington dressed soberly in a black velvet suit, his right hand outstretched. At his left side is a dress sword, signifying a democratic form of government. There are numerous symbols in the portrait, from the background with the Doric columns, the storm clouds at left ceding to a rainbow at right, to the books representing Washington's leadership, to the silver inkwell with Washington's coat of arms, and the table leg shaped like the Roman fasces, a Roman symbol of power and authority. Stuart noted that Washington's clenched-teeth expression came from a set of false teeth which he had recently inserted.
The original Lansdowne portrait by Gilbert Stuart was commissioned in April 1796 by wealthy Pennsylvania senator William Bingham and was given as a gift of appreciation to British Prime Minister William Petty FitzMaurice, the second Earl of Shelburne and first Marquess of Lansdowne, who supported American independence. It now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, which purchased it for $10 million.
Sanford Mason (1798-1862?) was born in Rhode Island. He began as a sign painter, then turned to portrait work around 1824. He opened a studio in Boston about 1826 and exhibited at the Athenaeum in 1827-28, then returned to Providence. He spent most of the 1830s in Boston and Lowell, Mass, and from 1842-47 was in Philadelphia, after which time he went back and forth between Boston and Philadelphia. His son was the artist William Sanford Mason (1824-64). Ex Claude Harkins Collection. Purchased from a private collector during the late 1990s for $80,000, plus $5,000 for frame.
Estimated Value $35,000 - 45,000
The Claude Harkins Collection of Washingtonia and Other Historical Highlights
