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

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Square Canister with expanding neck

Description


                    Square Canister with expanding neck, Freer Gallery of Art
Square Canister with expanding neck, Freer Gallery of Art

The Thompson catalogue described the subject as follows:

'Square Canister with expanding neck. On one panel a sage seated on a rock, below which is a stag; on another panel two mandarins or persons of rank giving instructions to a warrior; on a third a rocky landscape with two figures carrying baskets; on the remaining one female figure, probably a goddess, appearing to a man who is leading an ox over a bridge; numerous birds flying round the bridge. On the neck lotus flowers and symbols. Height, 11 ½ inches.' 1

The side on the left depicts the 'two mandarins or persons of rank giving instructions to a warrior'; the one to right certainly shows two figures in a landscape, but no baskets are visible. The canister is lit from the left, and the side seen at right is in shadow.

Notes:

1: Thompson 1878 [more] , p. 47 (cat. no. 242) repr. pl. 14.

Last updated: 18th March 2021 by Margaret