Provenance

• 1877: installed at 49 Princes Gate, London, for Frederick Richards Leyland (1832-1892);
• 1892: after Leyland's death, 49 Princes Gate was auctioned by Osborn & Mercer, London, 17 June 1892, but failed to find a buyer (withdrawn at £20,100);
• 1894: 49 Prince's Gate was bought for £25,000 by Blanche Marie Georgiana Watney (1837-1915), of Thorney Lodge, Palace Gate, widow of James Watney, the brewer and Liberal MP;
• 1904: early in the year, bought through Brown & Phillips, London dealers, for £10,000 by Obach, London dealers, who had it dismantled, and exhibited it;
• 1904: before the exhibition opened, the room was sold on 16 May to Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919), for £8400, and shipped from Southampton on 10 September;
• 1906: installed in Freer's house, 33 Ferry Avenue, Detroit, during March 1906; 1
• 1919: bequeathed by C. L. Freer to the Freer Gallery of Art.

J. E. Mitchell after Whistler, 'The Peacock Room', engraving, The Art Journal, 1892

Osborn & Mercer, The Peacock Room, sale catalogue, 1892

The Peacock Room at the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1920s

The history of the creation, travels and vicissitudes of the Peacock Room are discussed under Date and Technical Description (Conservation) above, and Exhibitions, below.

Exhibitions

• 1877: Exhibited in situ by Whistler in January and February 1877.
• 1904: Exhibited by Messrs Obach June until mid-July 1904, with porcelain from the collection of Alexander Thomas Hollingsworth (b. ca 1848-d.1928) on the shelves.
• 1906-1919: Accessible for selected visitors at Freer’s home in Detroit.
• Since May 1923: On view at the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.