1796 George Washington Silhouette Print, William Annesley, Third Known
Third known copy of this rare print. One is in the Albany Institute of History And Art, donated apparently by a descendent of William Annesley in 1898. Another is in the National Portrait Gallery in DC. We found this one this summer in a box lot at a small country auction in Maine. William Annesley was a printer in Boston, who lived from 1768-1848. This print, unlike the Albany and National Portrait Gallery prints, is glued to the back of a mat board. The mat is 8.5x10". The print itself is 7 13/16" wide and 9 3/16" tall. The outer 1/2" to 3/4" of the print, around all four sides, is not glued to the mat. The inner 1/4" of the print covered by the mat is also not glued to the mat. So there is approx. 3/4" to 1" of glue affixing the print to the mat. There is a 1/4" punched hole at top of mat, not quite centered, which clips the top of the print as well. There is a pin hole above the punched hole in the mat. The mat carries the pen and ink inscription "PUBLISHED IN 1796 AT BOSTON. / BY WILLIAM ANNESLEY." The Albany and National Portrait Gallery prints carry similar pen and ink inscriptions on the prints themselves. (See below) I don't know if this print has a pen and ink inscription on the front of the print as well, as that area is covered by the mat. The mat has bumped and worn corners. It appears to have never been framed, but simply hung by the punched hole or a tack. It's unfortunate that it wasn't framed and covered by glass, because the print itself has several small punctures. I'll list them: the largest is just to the left of Washington's mouth and nose; three on the right side of the print, near the mat inner edge at one inch from top, 3.5" from top and in the lower right corner; one other puncture at left edge only 1/4" from mat edge before Washington's chest. There's a water stain at the top/back of the head, and what looks like the marks of a sewing wheel in the upper left corner, indentations only--the wheel never punctured the print. Looking at the backside of the print we can see the crimped corners and the general toning and some foxing. The plate looks evenly centered on the paper--it doesn't look to me that the print was ever cut down. The National Portrait Gallery print is described, "Engraved Silhouette on Paper", 9 1/16" x 7 1/8", Object # NPG.2013.119, and carries the inscription, "Published at Boston, Mass, in 1796 by William Annesley." The Albany Institute print is described, "Ink-enhanced Intaglio Print with Pen & Ink Inscription", 9 1/2" x 7 5/8", Gift of Richard L. Annesley, Accession # 1898.7, and carries the inscription "Published in Boston in 1796 By / William Annesley." So you can see the inscriptions on all three, while carrying the same information, are all a bit different in the order of that information. Also that this print is a bit wider than both of those in the museums. A wonderful piece, published in Washington's lifetime. See scans or photos for condition. Happy to answer questions. If this is an auction listing there is no "Buy it Now" price--please don't ask. If this is a "Buy It Now" listing we do not participate in the "Make An Offer" program--no haggling. Prices are our best price. Just takes too much time with so many listings. Glad to combine shipping on multiple items: Please email me BEFORE you pay for multiple items so I can reduce your shipping cost. Good feedback automatically given reciprocally. And finally, we don't do "Partial Refunds". You must return the item so we can offer it to the underbidder. Thanks for looking.
Specifications
| All Returns Accepted | ReturnsNotAccepted |
Third known copy of this rare print. One is in the Albany Institute of History And Art, donated apparently by a descendent of William Annesley in 1898. Another is in the National Portrait Gallery in DC. We found this one this summer in a box lot at a small country auction in Maine. William Annesley was a printer in Boston, who lived from 1768-1848. This print, unlike the Albany and National Portrait Gallery prints, is glued to the back of a mat board. The mat is 8.5×10″. The print itself is 7 13/16″ wide and 9 3/16″ tall. The outer 1/2″ to 3/4″ of the print, around all four sides, is not glued to the mat. The inner 1/4″ of the print covered by the mat is also not glued to the mat. So there is approx. 3/4″ to 1″ of glue affixing the print to the mat. There is a 1/4″ punched hole at top of mat, not quite centered, which clips the top of the print as well. There is a pin hole above the punched hole in the mat. The mat carries the pen and ink inscription “PUBLISHED IN 1796 AT BOSTON. / BY WILLIAM ANNESLEY.” The Albany and National Portrait Gallery prints carry similar pen and ink inscriptions on the prints themselves. (See below) I don’t know if this print has a pen and ink inscription on the front of the print as well, as that area is covered by the mat. The mat has bumped and worn corners. It appears to have never been framed, but simply hung by the punched hole or a tack. It’s unfortunate that it wasn’t framed and covered by glass, because the print itself has several small punctures. I’ll list them: the largest is just to the left of Washington’s mouth and nose; three on the right side of the print, near the mat inner edge at one inch from top, 3.5″ from top and in the lower right corner; one other puncture at left edge only 1/4″ from mat edge before Washington’s chest. There’s a water stain at the top/back of the head, and what looks like the marks of a sewing wheel in the upper left corner, indentations only–the wheel never punctured the print. Looking at the backside of the print we can see the crimped corners and the general toning and some foxing. The plate looks evenly centered on the paper–it doesn’t look to me that the print was ever cut down. The National Portrait Gallery print is described, “Engraved Silhouette on Paper”, 9 1/16″ x 7 1/8″, Object # NPG.2013.119, and carries the inscription, “Published at Boston, Mass, in 1796 by William Annesley.” The Albany Institute print is described, “Ink-enhanced Intaglio Print with Pen & Ink Inscription”, 9 1/2″ x 7 5/8″, Gift of Richard L. Annesley, Accession # 1898.7, and carries the inscription “Published in Boston in 1796 By / William Annesley.” So you can see the inscriptions on all three, while carrying the same information, are all a bit different in the order of that information. Also that this print is a bit wider than both of those in the museums. A wonderful piece, published in Washington’s lifetime. See scans or photos for condition. Happy to answer questions. If this is an auction listing there is no “Buy it Now” price–please don’t ask. If this is a “Buy It Now” listing we do not participate in the “Make An Offer” program–no haggling. Prices are our best price. Just takes too much time with so many listings. Glad to combine shipping on multiple items: Please email me BEFORE you pay for multiple items so I can reduce your shipping cost. Good feedback automatically given reciprocally. And finally, we don’t do “Partial Refunds”. You must return the item so we can offer it to the underbidder. Thanks for looking.
