Of George Washington's 1772 portrait in the Lee Chapel at Washington & Lee University, Lexington, Virginia. The print is behind glass in its original gilt wooden frame, the back of which carries a period printed label reading "George Washington / Photograph in colors by M. Miley, from Charles Wilson Peale's painting which hangs in the Chapel. The first picture of Washington." A cardboard backing is inscribed "given to Dr. Robt Glasgow by Mr. Miley - Frances Glasgow inherited this in 1929 and Robt Glasgow Patterson is next in line. by CHP - 1983/2/23." This historic photograph is among the first successful color prints produced in the United States. Michael Miley (1841 - 1918) of Lexington, Virginia, launched his career with post-war portraits of General Robert E. Lee, becoming a highly successful and innovative photographer in his later years. A Miley exhibition article in the April, 1980 Washington & Lee University Alumni Magazine states that, "In the first years of the 20th century, Miley perfected a process of printing color photographs by superimposing separate single-color carbon images in each of the primary colors. He and his son, Henry, patented the technique in 1902 and in 1905 were awarded a Medal of Merit by the Franklin Institute." Miley's experiments with color photography favored still life arrangements and inanimate objects such as the Washington painting. Although black and white prints by Miley occasionally appear in the market, his color images seem to be largely institutional and thus unavailable to collectors. Print 9.5 x 7.5 in.; DOA 14.75 x 12.75 in.

Dr. Robert Glasgow, the original recipient of this photograph, practiced medicine in Lexington after 1878 and into the early 20th century. His daughter, Frances, inherited the Miley print, passing it on to her son, Craig Houston Patterson, Jr.

Overall fine crazing; the colors remain bright and vivid; browning and some loss to the label en verso.

$1,500 - 2,500