- I'm Amanda Isaac, Associate Curator of Fine and Decorative
Arts here at Mount Vernon, and I'm here today taking a close look at a unique and original
object in our collection, this crib which you see here. It's over 200 years
old, and cribs like this are incredibly rare survivals. In this case, according
to family tradition, this one was given by Martha Washington to her granddaughter,
Nelly Parke Custis Lewis. Now Nelly grew up here,
she was married here, and she had her first child here, and that child was a
daughter, Frances Parke Lewis, who was born in November 1799, as it would turn out, just a few weeks before George Washington passed away. Like cribs today, this one has
open sides to allow air flow, but you'll notice that instead of slats it has these tiny, very
finely carved Doric columns. You could say it's baby's first taste of classical architecture, the world of 18th century rule and proportion that it was born into. The crib's also on
wheels, so you can move it anywhere you need it, near the main bed, or perhaps closer to the fire so that you could warm baby up. And one side of the crib is also hinged. It comes all the way down. According to period sources, this was to render it easy to come at the child, that is to get her in and out, and also to change the bed linens, which you probably would have needed to do on a frequent basis. Unlike cribs today, though, this is meant to look like a full size adult bed, so you'll see at the
corners the four tall posts, and then the canopy structure
and the curtains all around. The canopy is a reconstruction here. It's based on 1790s designs. The curtains were designed
to open and close as needed to create a warmer environment again, or perhaps a darker one
as the child was sleeping. Ultimately, though, it's a luxury piece, a presentation piece, a stage set, with its curtains that draw back. It's a stage on which adoring parents can present their child to the world, or maybe just to family and friends. And that's how we're showing it today, to represent those few
weeks of tranquil happiness, as one visitor described that time period when the Washingtons and Lewises celebrated their new arrival.
