The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Plate, Bowl with a cover surmounted by a cup-shaped knob, Globular-shaped Bottle with long neck, and Eight-sided Bowl dates from 1876/18.

It is an illustration for a catalogue of the collection of Henry Thompson (1820-1894), published in 1878. ¹

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 633).

Images

Subject

Description

Plate, Bowl with a cover surmounted by a cup-shaped knob, Globular-shaped Bottle with long neck, and Eight-sided Bowl, whereabouts unknown

A plate stands upright behind, at left, a bowl with a cover, and at right, a bowl; in front of all these, there is a bottle. The Thompson catalogue described the subject as follows:

'No. 203. Three Globular-shaped Bottles, with long necks. A design of boldly drawn flowers rising from the base and continued to the top of the neck. Height, 5 ½ inches.'

'No. 239. Plate. In the centre part of a pavilion on a terrace; female figure offering a plant to two other ladies, behind a fruit tree in blossom; round the edge detached hawthorn blossom and boldly drawn waves on a ground of dark blue covered with circular web-like lines; on the outer edge a rocky landscape. Mark, double ring and Ta Ming Ching-hwa nien chi. A.D. 1465-1488. Diameter, 10 ½ inches.'

'No. 246. Shaped Bowl with Cover, surmounted by a cup-shaped knob. On the body four nude figures of boys drawn in outline on a ground of wavy blue, richly ornamented with conventional flowers; above a band of diaper ornament. The cover similarly ornamented, but without the boys. Height, 5 inches.'

'No. 306. Eight-sided Bowl with white perforated panels on a blue ground; round the foot a band of arabesque; round the outer edge a broad band of ornament on a blue ground. Diameter, 5 ½ inches; height, 2 ¾ inches.' ²

Technique

Composition

Plate, Bowl with a cover surmounted by a cup-shaped knob, Globular-shaped Bottle with long neck, and Eight-sided Bowl, whereabouts unknown

This is an illustration for Plate XVIII in Thompson 1878 [more].

Plate, Bowl with a cover surmounted by a cup-shaped knob, Globular-shaped Bottle with long neck and Eight-sided Bowl, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute,

There is a preliminary study, Plate, Bowl with a cover surmounted by a cup-shaped knob, Globular-shaped Bottle with long neck and Eight-sided Bowl m0632, reproduced above.

History

Provenance

• 1876/1878: given to Murray Marks (1840-1918), London art dealer;
• Date unknown: acquired by Pickford Robert Waller (1849-1930), London;
• 1930: bequeathed to his daughter Sybil Christina Waller (1882-1973);
• 1966: eight drawings were sold at Christie's, London, 14 November 1966 (lots 93-99) and bought by Knoedler's, New York art dealers, for Shirley Latter Schlesinger Kaufmann (Mrs Robert B. Kaufmann) (1916-2003); ³
• 1996: auction Sotheby's, New York, 22 May 1996 (lot 26).

Exhibitions

• 1878: A Catalogue of Blue and White Porcelain forming the collection of Sir Henry Thompson, Murray Marks gallery, London, 1878.
• 1905: possibly Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. nos. 156-161) as 'Illustrations to Sir Henry Thompson's catalogue of his Collection of Blue and White Nankin Porcelain, 1878.'

The porcelain, the final drawings, and the newly published catalogue, were exhibited in Murray Marks's shop in London, the private view being held on 30 April 1878.

It is almost certain that the drawings lent by Pickford Waller to the 1905 exhibition were among some of the final drawings for the Thompson catalogue. These included Globular-shaped Bottle with long neck, and a deep dish m0628, Plate, Bowl with a cover surmounted by a cup-shaped knob, Globular-shaped Bottle with long neck, and Eight-sided Bowl m0633, Large Cylindrical Vase with hollow neck m0638, Treble-Gourd Vase with long neck, and Bowl with scalloped edge m0640, Globular Bottle with long thin neck, Cylindrical-shaped Pot with flat cover surmounted by a knob, and Shallow Bowl m0644, Oviform Pot and cover m0647, and Beaker with expanding neck m0649.

However, another group, owned in 1905 by Waller but acquired shortly after the exhibition by C. L. Freer, could have been the ones selected for exhibition. These were Cylindrical Jar m0594, Bottle m0599, Oviform Ginger-Jar with Bell-Shaped Cover m0601, Cylindrical Vase with thick neck m0622, Square Canister with long neck m0624, Square Canister with expanding neck m0626, and Square Canister with square neck, and saucer-shaped Dish m0631.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 633) as 'Plate, Bowl with a cover surmounted by a cup-shaped knob, Globular-shaped Bottle with long neck, and Eight-sided Bowl'.

Authored by Whistler

• Thompson, Sir Henry, A Catalogue of Blue and White Nankin Porcelain Forming the Collection of Sir Henry Thompson. Illustrated ... from Drawings by James Whistler ... and Sir Henry Thompson, London, 1878 (cat. nos. 239, 246, 203, 306) repr. pl. XVIII.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• A Catalogue of Blue and White Porcelain forming the collection of Sir Henry Thompson, Murray Marks gallery, London, 1878.
• Possibly Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. nos. 156-161) as 'Illustrations to Sir Henry Thompson's catalogue of his Collection of Blue and White Nankin Porcelain, 1878.'

Catalogues 1906-Present

SALE:

• Sotheby's, New York, 22 May 1996 (lot 26).