The Curatorial collection of Mount Vernon consists primarily of the domestic objects associated with the lives of George and Martha Washington, their families, and the greater Mount Vernon community.  At the time of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association’s purchase of Mount Vernon in 1858, only a few original Mount Vernon objects remained.  Since that time, generous gifts and acquisitions have allowed many more original Mount Vernon objects to return home.

To date, approximately 15,000 artifacts are included in the Mount Vernon curatorial collection, including American and European furniture, English and American silver, European glass, French, English, and Chinese ceramics, imported textiles, fine art, and other objects purchased by the Washingtons and used at Mount Vernon in the Mansion and within the outbuildings during the eighteenth century.  Other objects on view include period pieces that reflect the taste of the Washingtons and reflect known Washington pieces not currently in the collection, as well as associated family objects and commemorative objects of the nineteenth century to the present day. In recent years, the Association has begun to expand its collection beyond domestic objects used at Mount Vernon to include those related to other parts of Washington’s life. In total, these objects reflect not only the fashions of the eighteenth century, but also George Washington’s life and legacy as a surveyor, military leader, statesman, and farmer.

Objects in the Mansion and Outbuildings are displayed in general accordance with eighteenth-century fashion, with a furnishing plan guided by the probate inventory taken shortly after the death of George Washington in 1799.  Contemporary research into room and outbuilding furnishings is constantly evolving and the curatorial staff is continually augmenting furnishing and interpretive plans to better reflect how the spaces would have appeared at the end of the eighteenth century.

To explore the Top Treasures of the Mount Vernon collection, please click here.