Conservation Survey of Paintings and Miniatures

FAIN: PG-50232-08

Tudor Place Foundation, Inc. (Washington, DC 20007-2924)
Leslie Buhler (Project Director: May 2007 to July 2008)

A conservation assessment of paintings and miniatures in order to identify treatment priorities and recommendations for rehousing. Tudor Place was the home of Thomas Peter and Martha Parke Custis Peter, the granddaughter of Martha Washington, and was occupied by six generations of one family until 1983. The works of art to be surveyed include many early portraits, such as a 1794 miniature in watercolor on ivory of George Washington, which was painted by Walter Robinson at the request of Martha Custis Peter upon her engagement.

The paintings and miniatures collections includes approximately 122 objects. Of these, close to 40 paintings are framed and 62 are unframed. The paintings and miniature collections span the centuries, from the early years of the new nation well into the 20th century. The paintings collection includes works by Joseph Wright, W. Menzler, Paul Wayland Bartlett, G.P.A. Healy, Eliphalet Andrews, and M.M. Andrews. The significant miniature collection includes 9 watercolors on ivory, 1 watercolor on porcelain, 5 watercolors on paper, 4 gouaches on ivory, and 1 enamel on copper. The collection includes portraits of family members from the 19th - early 20th century, as well as landscapes and genre paintings. Artists represented in this collection include Sebastian Ricci, itinerant Irish painter Walter Robinson, William Russell Birch, and Mara.