WASHINGTON, George (1732-1799). Autograph check signed ("G: o Washington"), headed "To the Bank of Columbia," Mount Vernon, 31 May 1799. page, oblong (3 7/8 x 7 in.) Washington requests the bank "please to pay to William Thornton Esq., on order [$272.] being the dividend of my stock on the Bank of Colombia for the last half year." Endorsed on the verso by the recipient: "William Thornton," with elaborate flourish. SEVEN MONTHS BEFORE HIS DEATH, WASHINGTON WRITES A CHECK TO THORNTON, ARCHITECT OF THE NATION'S CAPITOL Washington chose Thornton's design for the Capitol building in 1793. It "featured a central rotunda crowned by a dome (modeled on the Pantheon at Rome) and a colonnaded front inspired by the Louvre. Washington praised the plan for the 'the grandeur, simplicity, and beauty of the exterior'" ( American National Biography ). He also contributed to the design of Madison's Montpelier mansion and Jefferson's University of Virginia. He was one of the commissioners for the District of Columbia from 1794 to 1802. RARE. Very few printed or autograph checks of Washington have come on the market in recent years: we have traced only four: one to James Craik (1995, $20,000), one to Thornton (sold 1983, $5,000), one to William Wilson was offered by a dealer in 1991 for $15,000 and one to Bennett & Watts was sold here at Christie's, 10 December 1999, lot 192, $26,000).
WASHINGTON, George (1732-1799). Autograph check signed ("G: o Washington"), headed "To the Bank of Columbia," Mount Vernon, 31 May 1799. page, oblong (3 7/8 x 7 in.) Washington requests the bank "please to pay to William Thornton Esq., on order [$272.] being the dividend of my stock on the Bank of Colombia for the last half year." Endorsed on the verso by the recipient: "William Thornton," with elaborate flourish. SEVEN MONTHS BEFORE HIS DEATH, WASHINGTON WRITES A CHECK TO THORNTON, ARCHITECT OF THE NATION'S CAPITOL Washington chose Thornton's design for the Capitol building in 1793. It "featured a central rotunda crowned by a dome (modeled on the Pantheon at Rome) and a colonnaded front inspired by the Louvre. Washington praised the plan for the 'the grandeur, simplicity, and beauty of the exterior'" ( American National Biography ). He also contributed to the design of Madison's Montpelier mansion and Jefferson's University of Virginia. He was one of the commissioners for the District of Columbia from 1794 to 1802. RARE. Very few printed or autograph checks of Washington have come on the market in recent years: we have traced only four: one to James Craik (1995, $20,000), one to Thornton (sold 1983, $5,000), one to William Wilson was offered by a dealer in 1991 for $15,000 and one to Bennett & Watts was sold here at Christie's, 10 December 1999, lot 192, $26,000).
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