An ink-wash drawing once owned by President George Washington will be going under the hammer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The work of art, “The Destruction of the Bastille,” will be offered as a part of Freeman’s | Hindman Books and Manuscripts auction.
The piece drawn in 1789 was personally gifted to Washington by French military commander Marquis de Lafayette, according to a press release from the auction house, which is headquartered in New York City.
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Notably, Major General Lafayette helped lead the Continental Army’s victory at Yorktown, Virginia, that ended the American Revolution in Oct. 1781.
George Washington “was taken by the young man’s ebullience and profound dedication to the American cause,” writes the Washington Library of Mount Vernon.
The drawing was “made at the onset of the French Revolution and only weeks after the Bastille fell” and was one of the two gifts Lafayette sent to Washington on behalf of France’s appreciation for the American president,” according to Freeman’s | Hindman auction house.
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The other was a main key to the Bastille prison, serving as a symbol of victory against French royal oppression.
“The drawing would become one of Washington’s most cherished possessions, hanging prominently in the presidential house during his two terms, and then in the entryway of his Mount Vernon home, even after his death,” said the auction house’s press release.
Before going under the hammer, the famed piece will return home on an international tour starting with a stop in Paris, France.
It will then be shown in New York and Chicago before heading to Philadelphia, the auction house said.
“It seems only fitting that it returns to Paris, the heart of French democracy, before being sold in Philadelphia, the cradle of American democracy. I can only imagine Washington and Lafayette would have appreciated the symmetry,” Darren Winston, senior vice president and co-head of Freeman’s | Hindman Books and Manuscripts department told FOX Business in a statement via email.
He also said, “Freeman’s | Hindman is extraordinarily proud to offer this incredible testament to the power of liberty over oppression.”
The auction will be held on Sept. 10. The work is art is estimated to sell for between $500,000 and $800,000.
All proceeds from the sale will be split 50/50 with the Shriners Hospital for Children, headquartered in Florida, and the Masonic Charity Foundation of Connecticut to benefit each organization’s mission.
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