Tiny portrait 'to fetch $1m'

Washington was unanimously elected in 1789

A miniature portrait of the United States' first president, George Washington is expected to sell for $1m (£666,000) at auction later this month.

The two-inch artwork, enclosed in a gold locket containing a lock of Washington's hair, was painted in 1789 by Dublin-born John Ramage as a gift for the president's wife Martha.

It is the first portrait painted of the president, and according to Christie's Susan Kleckner, "on a square inch basis this is probably the most expensive artwork ever to come to market".

The Ramage miniature is the only one specifically referred to in Washington's diaries, extracts of which can be heard on Christie's website.

'American history'

It remained in the Washington family for more than 100 years, although two copies, painted at the same time by Ramage, exist in the Robert Hall Fleming Museum in Vermont and New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Although there were more than 50 portraits painted from life of Washington between 1755 and his death in 1799, fewer than a dozen were miniatures.

"In terms of provenance, rarity, and artistic competence this work is pretty much unequalled," said Ms Kleckner.

"It's more than just a miniature, it's a piece of American history."

Soldier's uniform

Ms Kleckner added that the artwork, due to go under the hammer in New York on 19 January, could well exceed its guide price.

The portrait shows Washington in the uniform of a general, with gold epaulettes and a lace cravat.

John Ramage, described by Christie's as "New York's city's finest miniaturist at the time", emigrated to the US from Dublin as a young man.

The artist, who was born in 1748 and died in 1802, was a controversial figure who married three times, once bigamously, and died in debt.