Washington Winter Show 2014

57 TREASURED FRAGMENTS OF HISTORY Southerners have a long history of saving things—often, items of no particular monetary value—and passing them on to succeeding generations. Frequently broken or damaged, such objects derive their real value from their links with the family’s past. Beyond portraits, silver, and fine furniture, Southerners have been known to save bits of china, old cooking pots, keys, and worn and faded articles of clothing. The Washington and Custis families certainly followed this tradition. Unfortunately, after George and Martha died, many of their fine garments and furniture upholsteries were cut up, while matching sets of jewelry were separated, distributed to family members, and passed down. Descendants and admirers cherished these fragmentary items as intimate tokens of remembrance, often dividing them into ever-smaller pieces with each succeeding generation. TheMount Vernon Ladies’ Association has collectedmany of these pieces over the years, and as the collection grows, curators continue piecing puzzles back together, reuniting these remnants to help tell a fuller story of George and Martha Washington. A number of Mrs. Washington’s dress fragments were saved and used to make sewing cases, a useful and fitting tribute to a woman who was known for her needlework. One outstanding example, handed down in the family of granddaughter Eleanor (Nelly) Parke Custis Lewis, includes sections made from clothes Mrs. Washington wore. At one end are semicircular layers of felted wool, trimmed in silver thread for needle storage. The case includes five pockets made from a combination of brocaded silks and a blue-green damask, and a triangular flap of dark blue floral silk at the opposite end that secures the case when closed. These fragments of history have also proven to be invaluable in more accurately interpreting the Mansion’s interior. Mrs. Washington bequeathed to her granddaughter Nelly “three beds & bedsteads curtains bolsters and pillow for each bed such as she This sewing case, made from fragments of Mrs. Washington’s dresses, is a fitting memorial to a lady well known for her needlework. (Photo by Gavin Ashworth) This early 20th-century valentine, handmade using a piece of Mrs. Washington’s window curtain, allowed curators to restore her bedchamber more accurately (opposite). (Photo by Robert C. Lautman, courtesy of Brian and Barbara Hendelson)