The death of George Washington, universally adored in a period before partisan politics, spurred national mourning. An account of Washington’s last hours, written by his personal secretary, Tobias Lear, and sent in a letter to John Adams, was published in newspapers nationwide and inspired the Philadelphia company of Pember and Luzarder to illustrate the scene in an engraving. That scene was adapted for the center of this commemorative handkerchief, which surrounds the incident with laudatory phrases in a series of cartouche medallions. Handkerchiefs depicting the death of Washington were advertised in a New York newspaper in July 1800 as having been produced in Glasgow, Scotland, offering an interesting insight into international communications and trade. The American engraving would have to have been published in early 1800, made its way to Scotland, been adapted into a new design, and been produced and sent back to America within seven months of Washington’s death. Numerous copies of this handkerchief survive in museum and private collections, testifying to the popularity of such mementos of a revered figure.
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