Deathbed scene depicting Washington lying peacefully on a four poster bed, the curtains drawn, his head propped up on pillows, surrounded by his wife, grandchildren, a Quaker friend, the family physician (Dr. Craik), and a man and woman African American domestic. In the bedroom, dimly lit by candlelight from a nearby table, a somber Martha Washington, her grandson and granddaughter by her side, sits by Washington's bedside and holds his hand. On the opposite side of the bed, the physician checks for the President's pulse. The saddened Quaker and servants watch from the foot of the bed; the woman domestic kneels and cries. In the upper left corner above Washington's head, a hat and sword hang on the wall. A key to the eight figures is listed below the image., Probably after an undated version of one of eight variant lithographs titled, "Death of Washington. Dec. 14. A.D. 1799," published by Nathaniel Currier beginning around 1840., See Currier & Ives: A Catalogue raisonne (Detroit: Gale Research, 1984), vol. 1, p. 172-173., Gift of Mrs. Francis P. Garvan, 1979., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date
[ca. 1850]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Washington - Death [P.8474.30]
