EDWARD SAVAGE (1761-1817)
Stipple engraving, 1792
Height 19.1, sub height 13.2, width 11.6, oval height 12.7, oval width 10.0 cm

Boglewood: 2101
Hart: 214

Source image:
Edward Savage, Type A
Oil on canvas (1790)

Text:
Painted & Engraved by E. Savage / George Washington, Esqr. / President of the United States of America. / From the Original Picture Painted in 1790 for the Philosophical Chamber, at the University of Cambridge, / In Massachusetts. / Published Feby. 7, 1792 by E. Savage, No. 29 Charles Street, Middx. Hospital.

Version I:  As shown.  Collections: New York Public Library; Library of Congress.
Version II:  As shown, but with title in open letters.
Version III:  As shown, with (i) rework in the hair and collar, and (ii) title and text erased and "General George Washington" substituted.  Collection: Library of Congress.

Printed in: (Version III) Washington's Monuments of Patriotism (Philadelphia: Baileys for Ormrod, 1800).

Notes: The print was executed and published by Savage while residing in London, where he first trained in engraving. The stipple engraving of the print, however, is skillfully done, leading to speculation that he was substantially aided in the process by his London teacher. In fact, Savage's own ability as an engraver was assailed by several later co-workers, after he had returned to America and established himself in Philadelphia. John Wesley Jarvis, a disgruntled apprentice in Savage's studio, is quoted as saying that his master's "painting was execrable, and he knew nothing of engraving." [Wick, pp. 104-105.]
    Version I was also printed in brown and other colors.