The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Double Gourd Vase and Saucer-Shaped Dish dates from 1876/1878. It is an illustration in a catalogue of the collection of Henry Thompson (1820-1894). ¹

Double Gourd Vase and Saucer-Shaped Dish, Private Collection

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 613).

Images

Subject

Description

Double Gourd Vase and Saucer-Shaped Dish, Private Collection

The Thompson catalogue described the subject as a vase (one of three) and a dish, as follows:

'No. 26. Three Double Gourd Vases, with open tops. On the lower gourd six panels with alternate subjects of female figures (Lange Lysen) variously occupied, and landscapes; below six similar patterns of figures separated by panels, vases and flowers on a stand. Separating the top from the bottom, a projecting ring. On the upper part six panels similarly ornamented, divided by flowers forming spandrils. Round the neck a deep ornamental band. Mark, leaf and double ring. Height, 14 ½ inches.'

'No. 31. Saucer-shaped Dish. In the centre a panel of five aster flowers on a ground conventionally ornamented; above, numerous panels containing similar flowers on a stem, with six leaves; round the edge, between each panel, a flower. Diameter, 15 inches.' ²

Technique

Composition

Double Gourd Vase and Saucer-Shaped Dish, Private Collection

Double Gourd Vase, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute

This is an illustration for Plate IX, Thompson 1878 [more]. There is one preliminary study, Double Gourd Vase m0612.

History

Provenance

• 1876/1878: given to Murray Marks (1840-1918), London art dealer;
• 1879: possibly one of seven drawings sold at auction, Christie's, London, 7 February 1879 (lots 527-533), and bought by Pickford Robert Waller (1849-1930) (see Cylindrical Jar m0594);
• Before 1892: given by Pickford Waller to his father, Robert John Waller (1814-1892);
• 1894: sold at auction, collection of the late R. J. Waller, at Christie's, London, 6 January 1894 (lot 50) as 'An oriental plate and bottle' and bought by Edmund F. Deprez (1851-1915), London dealer;
• 1894/1898: possibly one of three drawings sold by Deprez and Gutekunst, London dealers, to Frederick Keppel (1845-1912), New York dealer.
• 1969: with James Graham, New York dealer;
• 1972: sold to a private collector, Long Island;
• 1984: bought by Knoedler's, New York dealers;
• 1985: sold to a private collector.

See further details in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 613); this record has been revised.

Exhibitions

• 1878: A Catalogue of Blue and White Porcelain forming the collection of Sir Henry Thompson, Murray Marks gallery, London, 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.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 613) as 'Double Gourd Vase and Saucer-Shaped Dish'.

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. 26) repr. pl. IX.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• 1878: A Catalogue of Blue and White Porcelain forming the collection of Sir Henry Thompson, Murray Marks gallery, London, 1878.