Two-sided carved and painted George Washington profile portrait medallion, carved by Samuel McIntire. Composed of two medallions fastened back-to-back, the figures carved in high relief with George Washington facing to the right in a blue-painted military uniform with yellow-painted facings and epaulette, the shirt ruffle, face, and hair painted white, all against a brown painted background. The bottom of the joined medallions has a deeply cut hole extending up into the base perhaps for mounting on a rod.
plaques (flat objects)
portraits
busts (figures)
medallions (ornament areas)
carvings (visual works)
raised (form attribute)
painting (image-making)
commemoratives
presidents
Plaque
Plaque
President Washingtons travels around the country in 1789 unleashed feverish patriotic celebrations. McIntire was almost certainly present when Washington addressed a large crowd from the balcony of the Courthouse in Salem, Massachusetts, and likely met him at an assembly held that evening in Washingtons honor. A few years later, McIntire was hired to design the gates of the military parade ground that was to be renamed Washington Square and opened as a public park. He carved a large bust of Washington to ornament the West Gate and produced several smaller versions to sell. The shop inventory taken after McIntires death in 1811 listed "8 medallions of Washington." Five of the medallions are known today including these two, later fastened back-to-back. A hole was also bored into the base, and Nina Fletcher Little speculated they were once displayed outdoors on a pole.
At Cogswells Grant, their summer home in Essex, Massachusetts, the Littles supported the object atop a grain-painted chest, placed next to an English pewter bowl and a carved wooden pineapple in the entrance hall. The paired medallions epitomized the Littles' shared passion for collecting objects made in Essex County and their preference for "time-worn" wooden things that told fascinating stories.
TR2509.1
McIntire, Samuel, 1757-1811 (Carver)
Salem, Massachusetts
15 x 11 (HxW) (inches)
Museum purchase
2022.36.1
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