Featured Object
Periodically, the curator will select an artifact from the collection to highlight. This will provide a unique window into the many fascinating stories hidden in Ashland’s many artifacts.
Miniature of Henry Clay
Miniature on ivory of Henry Clay
This miniature of Henry Clay is one of the most recent acquisitions at Ashland. It is believed to have been done in 1805 by Benjamin Trott, making it the earliest known image of Henry Clay. I it Clay is shown with white frizzy hair. Lucretia Clay once told family friend and attorney James O. Harrison that when she first met Henry Clay he had the whitest head of hair she had ever seen. The miniature is painted on ivory and was recently conserved including replacement of the glass lens. The miniture is currently featured in the exhibit His Voice Spoke War and Peace: Speaker Clay and the War Hawks.
