“THE IMPORTANCE OF TRUTH”: GEORGE WASHINGTON CHERRY TREE MYTH TEXTILE, LIKELY PRODUCED IN GERMANTOWN [PHILADELPHIA], BY THE GERMANTOWN PRINT WORKS, WITH VERSE FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1806 IN A BIOGRAPHY OF WASHINGTON (5TH EDITION) BY PARSON WEEMS 1759-1825); COPPER ENGRAVED ON COTTON, ONE OF THREE KNOWN EXAMPLES, THE ONLY ONE IN BLUE AND THE ONLY EXAMPLE IN PRIVATE HANDS

“THE IMPORTANCE OF TRUTH”: GEORGE WASHINGTON CHERRY TREE MYTH TEXTILE, LIKELY PRODUCED IN GERMANTOWN [PHILADELPHIA], BY THE GERMANTOWN PRINT WORKS, WITH VERSE FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1806 IN A BIOGRAPHY OF WASHINGTON (5TH EDITION) BY PARSON WEEMS 1759-1825); COPPER ENGRAVED ON COTTON, ONE OF THREE KNOWN EXAMPLES, THE ONLY ONE IN BLUE AND THE ONLY EXAMPLE IN PRIVATE HANDS
Web ID:	pat-808
Available:	On Hold
Frame Size (H x L):	Approx. 26" x 33"
Flag Size (H x L):	14.75" x 21.75"


Description:
Printed in blue pigment on coarse, plain weave cotton, this horizontal, rectangular, kerchief-like textile falls among the earliest of those known with an American political theme. The imagery features is an illustration of the mythicized story of George Washington and the cherry tree, in which the future general and first President of the United States appears with his father, as a child, before his boyhood home on a landscape filled with flora and fauna, axe in hand. At the top is a header that reads: “The Importance of Truth,” followed by “Exemplified in the Life of the Celebrated Washington when a Youth; Afterwards President of the United States of America.” Along the lower register is a poem that first appeared in the 5th edition of a well-known biography, penned by pastor and bookseller, Parson Weems (1759-1825) in 1806. Because there is no surviving documentation of George’s relationship with his father, who passed in 1743, when he was just 11, Weems is suspected to have fabricated the tale to increase sales of the work, first published in 1800, on the heels of Washington’s death. Two smaller but similar, copper engraved, printed kerchiefs, were produced and signed by Germantown Print Works in Germantown, Pennsylvania – part of Philadelphia, which became a mecca for textile production in the city. Printed as companion pieces in the wake of Washington’s death, one of these bore the title “The Effect of Principle, Behold the Man,” and the other, “The Love of Truth Mark the Boy.” The latter of these likewise highlights the cherry tree myth and includes the same Weems verse. Printed in at least 3 color variants, including what appears to be the identical blue, mulberry/red and sepia or black, the width of the fabric employed, likewise visually identical in weave and weight, as well as to the touch, is the same at approximately 20.5 – 23 inches.* Having had the rare privilege to hold this “Importance of Truth” example, together with multiple copies of the “Love of Truth / Effect of Principle” companion textiles, and viewed Winturthur’s uncut bolt with 3 blue repeats thereof, etc., I would hasten to suggest that these two, closely-related varieties, with the Weems verse and similar imagery, were either both produced circa 1806 by Germantown Print Works, with the same pigment and on the same cloth, or by Germantown Print Works (the companion pair) and a competitor (Importance of Truth) with access to the same materials. While the Roman style font, extremely close in both style and scale, differs just slightly, (note for example, the straight versus curved tails of lowercase “y,” and different foot serifs on lowercase “p,”) a printer doing any amount of text would have likely possessed numerous cases of alphabetic typesets. Just two other copies of the “Importance of Truth” textile are known, both of which are institutionalized. Just like the “Love of Truth / Effect of Principle” companion kerchiefs, these survive in multiple colors. One, in mulberry/red, is among the holdings of Lewis Walpole Library at Yale University. Another, likely in sepia or black, though perhaps in deep violet (difficult to ascertain), is presumably in the collection of Washington Old Hall, the ancestral home of the Washington family, in Washington, United Kingdom. Though an image of the original appears not to have been published, a reproduction of it, with wide, white borders, appears to have been made available, perhaps to be offered for sale at the museum’s shop. Bound by machine along the upper and lower edges, text within the lower border reads: “Produced by Recollections After the Original in the Possession of the National Trust at Washington Old Hall.” If Washington Old Hall had been occupied by the Washington family throughout time, or if the textile was not so closely related to the signed, Germantown examples, I might seriously consider English manufacture as a possible origin. The Washington’s moved south in 1613, however, and the National Trust did not reacquire it as a historic site until the 20th century. I have owned at least one pair of the sewer eagles that appear in many of the images of the structure, and recognize them to be of mid-19th century origin, likely American, and am aware of their presence in Philadelphia at more than one location, where they have stood for many years, likely since their time of manufacture. In other words, it seems likely that, in order to operate with objects bearing relevance to America’s first president, American objects were acquired. Unlisted in “Threads of History, Americana Recorded on Cloth, 1775 - the Present,” by Herbert Ridgeway Collins (1979, Smithsonian Press), the foremost reference of textiles with American political themes, or in any other text of which I am aware, this incredibly early example would be an incredibly significant addition to any collection thereof. *The blue “Importance of Truth” textile that is the subject of this narrative is 21.75” in width; the mulberry red copy of “The Importance of Truth” at Yale is recorded at 20.5”; a surviving pair (Love of Truth/Effect of Principle) in private hands, in sepia, is recorded as being 22 1/8”; and a surviving sheet of with 3 repeats of the pair, at Winterthur, in blue, is recorded at 23”. Minor differences seen here are attributable to slight variation in the 220-year-old, water driven, loom-woven product, plus the propensity of cotton to shrink and expand with fluctuating heat and humidity.

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Collector Level:	Flags for the truest Patriots. My best offerings

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Star Count:

Earliest Date of Origin:	1806

Latest Date of Origin:	1806

State/Affiliation:	Pennsylvania

War Association:	1777-1860 Pre-Civil War

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E-mail:	info@jeffbridgman.com

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