The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Cylindrical Jar dates from 1876/1878. It is an illustration for a catalogue of the collection of Henry Thompson (1820-1894) published in 1878. ¹

Cylindrical Jar, Freer Gallery of Art

The drawing is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 594).

Images

Subject

Description

Cylindrical Jar, Freer Gallery of Art

It was described in the Thompson catalogue as 'Cylindrical Vase, with short hollow neck; companion to the above. Height 11 ½ inches.' The 'above' was described as 'Pair of Beakers, … The body covered with flowers and leaves on a wavy ground of translucent blue; round the neck and foot bands of ornament. Mark, double ring.' ²

Technique

Composition

Cylindrical Jar, Freer Gallery of Art

This is an illustration for Plate 1, Thompson 1878 [more]. A preliminary study, Cylindrical Jar m0593, is in the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute.

History

Provenance

• 1876/1878: given to Murray Marks (1840-1918), London art dealer;
• 1879/1883: possibly among drawings sold at auction, Christie's, London, 7 February 1879 (lots 527-33) or one of 'three sketches' sold at Sotheby's, London, 19 February 1883 (lot 366), and bought by Pickford Robert Waller (1849-1930).
• 1907: Obach & Co, London dealers, sold six drawings to Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919), Detroit, on 22 October 1907; ³
• 1919: bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art.

Further details are given in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 590).

Exhibitions

• 1878: A Catalogue of Blue and White Porcelain forming the collection of Sir Henry Thompson, Murray Marks gallery, London, 1878.
• 1905: 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, Square Canister with square neck, and saucer-shaped Dish m0631.

By the terms of Freer's will, this drawing cannot be lent to another venue.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 594) as 'Cylindrical Jar'.

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. no. 3) repr. pl. 1.

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

• Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, New York and London, 1984, p. 174, pl. 86.

Websites

• Freer Gallery of Art website at https://asia.si.edu/object/F1907.176.