Washington Locket To Go On Auction

NEW YORK (AP) â€” The portrait shows George Washington as people usually imagine him: a stern, uniformed general with powdered, white hair. <br><br>But on the other side of the locket is a token of the

Wednesday, January 17th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) â€” The portrait shows George Washington as people usually imagine him: a stern, uniformed general with powdered, white hair.

But on the other side of the locket is a token of the George that Martha knew: a lock of his naturally brown hair.

On Friday, the day before the inauguration of the nation's 43rd president, the locket is to be auctioned by Christie's. It is estimated to sell for between $800,000 and $1.2 million.

The portrait, which is just over 2 inches, was painted for Martha Washington in October 1789 by Irish-born artist John Ramage. Ramage, who created the image with watercolor on ivory, also produced the gold locket that holds it and about an inch of plaited, chestnut-colored hair.

``It was an intimate gift to Martha,'' said John Hays, a spokesman for the auction house.

The portrait was painted a few days before the first president was to leave New York, then the capital of the newly formed nation, on a trip through New England. Hays said the portrait was the first to be painted of Washington following his inauguration in April 1789.

Many people at that time wore wigs, and it was common to give locks of their real hair as mementos. Although the National Archives and Records Administration's Web site says Washington did not wear wigs, he did powder his hair according to the custom of the time, Hays said.

The auction house was confident the hair, which has been encased under glass in the locket for more than 200 years, belonged to Washington, although Hays acknowledged the hair had not been DNA tested.

Washington is depicted in the portrait wearing the blue uniform of a general with yellow facings and gold epaulettes, a yellow waistcoat and a lace cravat.

The reverse contains the president's initials in gold and the inscribed names of several Washington descendants, who owned the piece for nearly 120 years, and the name of Lucy Wharton Drexel, who bought the locket in a private sale in 1907.

The piece was eventually sold to New Hampshire art collector Eddy G. Nicholson.

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On the Net:

Christie's: http://www.christies.com