The Washington Collection

TUDOR PLACE | Last day open of 2024: Sunday, December 29. Click for info

TUDOR PLACE | Last day open of 2024: Sunday, December 29.

For 178 years, six generations of the Peter family used, maintained and treasured a collection of objects, textiles, tablewares and manuscripts from Martha and George Washington.

Martha Custis Peter, who with her husband Thomas built Tudor Place, was a granddaughter of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington and enjoyed a loving relationship with her and the President, her step-grandfather. And Thomas Peter, like his father Robert, transacted business and enjoyed friendly ties to the former President. In her will, executed in 1802, Martha Washington named Thomas an executor of her estate.

The Washington Collection, second only to George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate, Museum and Gardens’ in size, contains both finely crafted goods and humble domestic items. In materials, production techniques, and design, these objects provide excellent examples of 18th-century craftsmanship. Their mix of European-, Chinese-, and American-made elements also speaks to the nature of circum-Atlantic commerce in the 18th century and the emergence of a self-consciously “republican” aesthetic on American shores.

The collection includes 40 pieces of a Sèvres porcelain dinner and dessert service used in the first Presidential household; a Chinese export porcelain soup plate from the ca. 1784 Society of Cincinnati service; Martha Washington’s English Gothic-style china table, ca. 1750 – 75; one of two surviving American-made camp stools Washington commissioned in 1776 for use during the Revolutionary War; fragments of silk clothing, lace, and personal accessories; a 1734 silver porringer owned by Martha Washington’s son (Martha Peter’s father), John Parke Custis; and a rare wax-and-shellwork tableau presented to Martha Washington in 1783 by New York entrepreneur and tavern-keeper Samuel Fraunces.

The cornerstone of the Washington Collection’s papers is George’s letter to Martha announcing his 1775 appointment to lead the Continental Army, one of only three surviving pieces of the couple’s personal correspondence. Additional correspondence relates to business transactions and condolence letters received by Martha Washington after her husband’s death.

Stool Philadelphia, ca. 1790-97 Ash, beech, and sweet gum 4004.01

Table, tea (China Table) England; ca. 1750 – 1775. Mahogany 4001.01

Oil Lamp Unknown maker, probably English, ca. 1775-99 Colorless glass, tinned sheet iron 501801ab

Pocket Watch Movement by William Webster, Jr., London; ca. 1741. Gold, brass, steel, glass 2012.7001

Letter: George Washington to Thomas Peter, June 20, 1798. Papers of Thomas & Martha Peter, MS-2 Tudor Place Archives

Punchbowl Jingdezhen, China, 1765-1775 Hard Paste Porcelain and over-glaze enamel decoration 3173.01

General Henry Knox Stipple engraving by Edward Savage; Printed in London, 1791 Wove paper, frame: wood (unidentified), gesso, glass 6001

Tureen Comte d’Artois’ porcelain factory, Paris, ca. 1785 Porcelain with gilt decoration 3003.01ab

Pair of Brackets, Attr. to the shop of James Reynolds, Philadelphia, ca. 1780-99. Pine, gesso, iron 4002.01-.02

Candle Sticks Unknown Maker, probably English; ca.1783 Silver Plated Copper (fused plate), iron 7002.01-.02

Decanter with stopper Maker unknown, probably English; ca.1785 – 95. Glass 5015.01ab

Cruet Set English, ca. 1768-1799 Silver Plate, glass 7001

In The News

Press Release: Tudor Place Wins MAAM’s, Making an Impact Award

October 15, 2024/by Comms2018

Up in Arms: A Family’s Service

August 29, 2024/by Janet Wall

Mark Hudson, Executive Director, Featured in Podcast introducing, Ancestral Spaces: People of African Descent at Tudor Place

January 17, 2024/by Comms2018

SLAVERY AT TUDOR PLACE

As an historic site that bears the scars of slavery, Tudor Place seeks to look this injustice in the eye. Click here to learn more.

Advance registration encouraged; suggested donation. Click for info.

1644 31st Street, NW | Washington, DC 20007
202-965-0400 | info@tudorplace.org

Advance registration encouraged; suggested donation. Click for info.

1644 31st Street, NW | Washington, DC 20007
202-965-0400 | info@tudorplace.org