Details
Creator McRae, John, engraver.
Contributor White, George G. (George Gorgas), -1898, artist.
Title "Father, I cannot tell a lie: I cut the tree" [graphic] / Painted by G.G. White; Eng[raved by] John McRae.
Publisher [New York] : [publisher not identified]
Date [1860]
Physical Description 1 print : engraving ; sheet 52 x 69 cm (20.25 x 27 in.)
Description Genre scene of the fictitious moment when the young George Washington confesses to his father, Augustine, a plantation owner, that he cut a cherry tree on their Virginia plantation. Depicts Washington's father holding his son's hand and comforting him. George looks up at his father and points his left hand towards the cut tree in the right. On the ground is an ax and an upturned hat. In the background, an enslaved African American man plows the pasture with a team of oxen, and an enslaved African American man and woman couple stands near the gate of a cottage, probably their dwelling.
Notes Title from date.
Date based on the active dates of engraver.
Gift of Mrs. Francis P. Garvan, 1978.
Description revised 2021.
Access points revised 2021.
Subject Washington, Augustine, approximately 1694-1743 -- Portraits.
Washington, George, 1732-1799 -- Childhood and youth.
Washington, George, 1732-1799 -- Portraits.
African American couples -- Virginia.
African American men -- Virginia.
African American women -- Virginia.
Cherry trees -- Virginia.
Dwellings -- Virginia.
Honesty.
Plantations -- Virginia.
Plowing -- Virginia.
Slaves -- Virginia.
Woodcutting -- Virginia.
Enslaved men -- Virginia.
Enslaved people -- Structures -- Virginia.
Enslaved women -- Virginia.
Genre Engravings -- 1850-1860.
Genre prints -- 1850-1860.
Location Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| **GC - Washington [8384.F.16]
Accession number 8384.F.16