Engraving on india paper of George Washington, executed in 1862, signed in pencil in the bottom right corner by the artist William Edgar Marshall. This piece is especially noteworthy due to the fact that it is an artist's proof and is so labeled by Marshall, who has written "Artist Proof" in pencil directly above his name. Written along the base of the piece, in extremely fine print, is the notation: "Entered according to the act of Congress in the year 1862 by William E. Marshall in the clerk's office of the United States for the Southern District of New York Copyright of photographs secured."
Marshall hand dedicated this piece to "My Dear Friend A.B. Durand"
The artist proof is the first strike of the engraving and is the most perfect piece. The William E. Marshall artist proof was printed on a 16 x 22 sheet of what was called at India paper the only acid free paper of the time and was used for his proof strike. It was then mounted on a 22 x 28 sheet of thicker stock with a debossed border and signed "Artist Proof William E. Marshall".
This William E. Marshall 1862 Presidential Portrait of George Washington is the finest steel engraved portrait ever done. It is the Presidential Portrait of George Washington that hung in the President's Theatre Box at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC, the night that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14th, 1865 at 10:15 PM by John Wilkes Booth.
William Marshall (1837-1906), whose studio was in New York City, was an artist and engraver of note during the second half of the nineteenth century. A student of Cyrus Durand, he began his career as a vignette engraver for the American Bank Note Company. After a brief period of study in France, he returned to the United States and achieved great success as a portrait painter. Among his most well known works are both a painting and engraving of Abraham Lincoln, done in 1865, and an engraving of Christ. This work exemplifies his extraordinary skill and is a finely rendered image of our first President. The engraving (11.5 x 13.5 inches, image area)
