Detail from The Canal, Amsterdam, 1889, James McNeill Whistler, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

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M.0958
Butterfly for a valance at Dowdeswell's Gallery

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1884
Collection: Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Accession Number: 2005.260
Medium: pencil and watercolour
Support: beige laid paper
Size: 2 13/16 x 2 15/16" (72 x 75 mm)
Signature: butterfly
Inscription: originally inscribed 'This drawing was in Alexr Jno. Taylor's / Pocket Book for embroidery on Mantel Board Valances in Dowdeswell Galleries New Bond St. / by J. McNeil (sic.) Whistler Esq. for his/ Exhibition in Flesh Colour and Grey.'

Butterfly for a valance at Dowdeswell's Gallery

Provenance

  • 1884: acquired by Alexander J. Taylor, London.
  • 1911: with Ernst Arnold (1818-1951) , Dresden art dealer (label).
  • 1930s?: with Konrad Zimmermann, art dealer, Rahmanstatten, Berlin.
  • 1953: owned by a private collector, UK.
  • 1962-1966: Nordness Galleries, New York art dealers.
  • 1974: sold at auction, Sotheby's, London, 19 June 1974 (lot 50) and bought by The Fine Art Society, London art dealers;
  • After 2001: sold to a private collector.
  • 2005: given by Patricia Cornwell, Belmont, MA, to Harvard University Art Museums.

Exhibitions

Although this was a design related to the décor in Whistler's exhibition, 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1884, it was not itself exhibited.

Last updated: 26th February 2021 by Margaret