Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1865-10-21
FROM NEW YORK,
HuntingtOn,s Great Picturc-Mrs.
WashingtOn's Reception Day-The
Beauty of our OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
PictureSOId for 100000. I. Stew
art the Happy Owner.

Especial Correspondence of the LEADER.J
-. New YORK, October 10 1865.
Next after Bierstadt's wonderful land
p scape painting of the Rocky Mountains
it (which Mr.. McHenry will take to Eng
y land with him at a cost of s25,0OO,) thu
ie most remarkable picture which has beer
S. on exhibition in New York for some year
y is Huntington's historical painting of the
> Republican court in the time of Washing
ton, or Mrs. W~ashington's Reception Day
If Here are grouped together in Mrs. Wash
L ingtOn's reception-room, fifty-six OF the
L most eminent statesmen, wits, and beauties
. Of the times. Mr.. Huntington is the
President of the National Academy of De-
sign, located in New York, and he has en-
joyed remarkable opportunities for obtain
ing authentic materials for his celebrated
4 picture. In every instance hehas endeav-
r ored to procure a family likeness of those
a whom he has painted, and has had access
to the portraits of Copley, Stuart, and the
= miniatures of Malone. Many of the
: the persons are painted in the very cos
5 TUNES they are known to have worn upon
t Reception Days. Thus we look upon this
picture with the inward feeling that it is a
J faithful! representation Of the celebrated
men and women who figured in the early
do,~ of the Republic. We do net stop to
g the Duke Of Kent could have met
If Orleans at a Presidential re-
ths pus rights of chronology have
1910 respected. We are
- so,,n,,fo,,.,, living faces and
faF1.s.5 he pure life
costumes; in rejecting upon
these good people led in the EARL
better DAVIS of our national existence;
adniring the health and beauty of our
,randuuvChers not rorsetting the skill and
taste of the artist who has faithfully rep
resented the whole upon imperishable cam
vas.
shalt rot indulge my pen i'll that dis
graceful attefhSs at fault-fnding which
many otherwise respectable journals Dig
nifv under the name of cart Notices" A
new journal for public favors in Pmladel-
ubia has the following standing at the
head of its editorial column: IF any Per-
son can edit a better paper than this, he
will pIcase come to the office and show us
boS to do it, We repeat the same in re-
IatIos tothese wise art-critics of The press;
uIf You can paint a better picture than
the one you find fault with, please step to
the studio and do it,
The picture hardly looks fke an Amerl-
can one, Fashion has so changed the COS
TUNES of the people, and our modern CIV
i~lization has robbed our cheeks of the glow
ing beauty which Mr.. Huntington has
shown uy was no stranger to the men and
women who attended Mrs. W~ashington's
receptions. Ore is struck with the mar
v~elouslv truthful representation on canvas
Of besilks and satins worn by the Indies
they seem as real as any displayed in the
Broadway shop-windows. We doubt,
perhaps, if Mrs. Washington was IN the
habit of standing On a rsised platform, COW
cred with blue satin heavily fringed with
gold. at her receptions, but since the artist
chose to put her there we have no fault to
find.
Mrs. Washington stands on a little plat
form at one end of her parlor, and close by
her left side is her granddaughter, Nelly
Cnstis. By the side of Nelly stands Mrs.
Robert Morris. The house of Mrs. Morris
had been taken by the corporation for the
residenceo of Washington, upon the removal
of the sent of government to Philadelphia.
At Mrs. Washington's right, and close by
the end of the platform, stands Mi. Alex
| 4 Hamilton, in conversation with John
S5nn,s and John Jay. Mr.. Jay was the
5rst chief Justice of tho United States. He
: r,nressnted d as wearing his judicial robes,
al :. n very prominent figure IN the
60 s+,uding in the foreground at the
fnft band corn r of the painting. Mrs. Ad-
ans and Mr.. uai-~'iltnn stand behlnd Their
husbands talking tog, 'tner, DncA 81 NJ
Washington on the plal'o grim o.ninr a.
Rufus King, and Mrs. Van n snl. T,o nisE
Mrs. Genet, the wife of the ISL IL
minister to the United States EirLcy,
Lamens. John Dickinson, and INn5
Ames, athe finest orator in the COUNT. "
stand back Of the ladies at the extreme
end of room in The rear Of Mrs. Washing
ton. In the room, at the left end OF the
platform, we see seated IN old man, Jona-
than Tru1nbull, Governor of Connecticut,
and leaning over the back of his chair is
his son, Colonel John Trumbull, Zone of
the most distinguished of American paint
ers.'' In a group of six persons, who are
standing together behind the Trumbulls,
the most prominent one is Thomas JeffeS
son. He stands between Miss Hahersham
of Georgia, the daughter of the postmaster
general, and Mrs. Todd of North Carroll
ma. who afterwards married James Madi-
son for her second husband. Oliver Els
worth, Oliver Walcott, and George Ham
mond, the British minister, make up the
group.
The room in front of Mrs. Washington
is crowded with noble men and fair wo-
men. She is receiving the respects of
her guests, and her husband, George
Washington, is leading forward Miss Har-
riet Chew, a girl from Germantown who
was a favorite with Washington, and
much in his society. The portrait of
George Washington is full length, and was
copied from the best pictures of him in ex-
~istence. Behind Miss Chew stands the
Duke of Kent. He was the father of Vic
JOfla, Ine queen VI ElSlanu. NJ tho
time he visited the United States he was
simply looked upon as the youngest son of
George III, and no one thought it posi-
bic that he would ever be the heir to the
throne of England. Approaching Mrs.
Washington from nearer the middle of
the room is Mr.. Arthur Middleton, of
South Carolina. He is leading forward
Mrs. Drayton from the same State, and
Miss Livingston, a daughter of Chancel-
lor Livingston.
The most prominent persons in the front
or foreground, of the middle of the pic
ture, are Mrs. Bingham, Mrs. Jay, Sophia
Chew, and Mrs. Theodore Sedgwick. As
these are the beauties of the picture, and
were always attractive ladies at the Re
publican court, you VIII allow me 10 Sos-
Sip about them a little in ~ecteHso.
aMrs. Bingham, writes M~r.Tuckerman,
twas ever celebrated for her female beauty;
she was evidently born to charm and cheer
whatever sphere of life might be blest with
her presence She attracted much no
tice at the court of Louis Y l. Mrs.
Adams wrote of her: "Mrs. Bingham has
been twice to see me. l think she is more