George Washington did not “sleep” here. Rather, a pristine portrait of America’s first president done by Gilbert Stuart (1755‱828) rose to $1.06 million in very active bidding at Cottone Auctions’ March 27 fine art and antiques sale.

According to Matt Cottone, the portrait opened at $250,000, with fairly strong bidding on the floor as well as the phones. The underbidder was a West Coast collector on the phone, and the portrait ultimately sold to a Pennsylvania dealer on the floor who was bidding for his client.

The portrait, cataloged by Cottone as the Winthrop Astor Chanler portrait of George Washington, stemmed from a local family, the Chanlers, whose family tree reaches back to John Jacob Astor, the first multimillionaire in American history. The oil on canvas, 27½ by 237/8 inches, was in undisturbed original condition and frame. It is strikingly similar to the portrait by Stuart that hangs at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

A complete review of this sale will appear in a future issue. ‼i>WD