Portrait of George Washington in Masonic Regalia
Description
Portrait of George Washington (1732-1799) in Masonic regalia as Master of his Lodge–Alexandria-Washington Lodge No.22. The painting, by Hattie E. Burdette, was produced for the George Washington Bicentennial Commission in 1932 at the request of the Congress for hanging in the Capitol of the United States. The original was later moved to the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia, where it now hangs. Original Masonic oil painting on canvas of George Washington signed by Hattie E. Burdette (1875-1955).
History
This photolithographic reproduction of George Washington was provided to every Masonic Lodge in the United States which held a charter in 1931 (over 1,500).
This is not actually a picture of Washington! This is Teft Johnson, an actor who portrayed the role of Washington in many plays thunder the direction of David Belasco. Sol Bloom had requested eight local artists to present posters which would be used to promote the bicentennial. Hattie E. Burdette asked permission of the Lodge (AW22) to paint Teft Johnson in the East of the Lodge standing beside the Washington chair and dressed in the Washington apron and jewel and with the original pedestal and backdrop. Of all the posters submitted, the Burdette poster was selected by the Commission to advertise the bicentennial. Thousands of copies of all sizes were reproduced and distributed.
New York Congressman Sol Bloom, Director of the Bicentennial Commission and a member of New York’s Pacific Lodge No. 233, took pride in his agency’s insistence on “realism.” In consultation with F. Walter Mueller, a member of Century Lodge No. 100 in South Orange, New Jersey Bloom reviewed many Masonic portraits of Washington before rejecting them all as inaccurate. He then hired Burdette to create a portrait in which the figure was based upon Houdon’s statue of Washington while the overall work incorporated the relics maintained by Alexandria-Washington Lodge No. 22. “Despite Bloom’s push for authenticity, this image, too, featured the anachronistic baldachin and neo-Gothic pedestal. As well as appearing repeatedly both in the Masonic press and in publications of the Washington Bicentennial Commission, more than fifteen hundred photolithographic reproductions of Burdette’s painting were distributed by congressmen to Masonic organizations throughout the United States."
Dimensions
With frame the portrait is approximately 40" wide by 50" high.
Note: Courtland Lodge No. 85 holds four of these prints, an initial and one each from the Lodges consolidated into the current Lodge:
- Courtland Lodge No. 85
- Newsoms Lodge No. 128
- Widow’s Son Lodge No. 150
- Boykins Lodge No. 287