Martha Washington c. 1800

William Woolley’s stipple engraving portrays Martha Washington, her likeness captured through delicate, textured dots. The bonnet atop her head, adorned with ribbons, speaks volumes about the sartorial customs of her era, yet whispers echoes of ancient headdresses symbolizing status and virtue. Consider the ribbon: from antiquity, it has signified bonds, from the sacred fillets of priestesses to the secular bows of courtship. We see its reappearance in Renaissance portraits, a subtle cue to the sitter’s marital or social ties. Its presence in Mrs. Washington’s portrait anchors her to a lineage of symbolic representation, yet here, it takes on a distinctly republican tone, signifying a more democratic, less overtly aristocratic form of leadership. The act of adorning oneself, especially the head, carries deep psychological weight. It is an outward projection of inner identity, a masking and revealing in equal measure. In this rendering, the bonnet and ribbon serve not only as markers of status but also as protective shields, framing Mrs. Washington’s face in an oval as if she was a precious relic. The cyclical nature of symbols reminds us that even in the New World, echoes of the old resonate, transformed but never entirely erased.