Featured Happy Presidents Day from George & Abe

Figured I’d show a couple of my favorite presidential pieces. Abe was painted by a child of 12. The ears and bow tie are a bit funky but I think he did a great job for his age.

George I picked up recently. He is done in marquetry. Looks like a war scene with his uniform and marquee tent behind him. The frame is pretty old. There is a descriptive tag on the back that I am guessing an auction house or antique store put on it. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. If anyone has I would love to know more.

 

That kid did a better job on Abe than I ever could have; it's a nice survival. George is cool too, but I have a thing for kid art.

 

Great link! One thing it didn’t mention that I read elsewhere is his original tent. He ordered one set and then another as the article mentions. However his original tent which he purchased from another military man was lent out. It was lent by George to his brother. His brother never returned it to him! For this reason he ordered the tents mentioned which wore out within a year or so. The replacements for those are the ones that are now on display. They are the only remaining marquee tents from the revolutionary war. Tents were in massive demand during the Revolutionary War and were very labor intensive to make. They ended up being on sever back order. The tents in your link actually underwent quite a journey after that war. After being owned by a private family in the south they were taken as war prizes in the Civil War. I believe they were stored in the US patent office for a while. Eventually long after the civil war they were given back to the family that owned them. A transfer or two later they ended up in whatever institutions hands that owns them now. Pretty cool history!
I liked the unique portrait of George but when I looked closer and saw the tent that’s when I was sold. I’m quite keen to learn more about the piece. I’m hoping it’s got some good value but I love it even if it doesn’t. Being an old George Washington piece I have to imagine it would have some fans if I put it on the market.

 

Very interesting, thanks for sharing.