The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Square Canister with long neck dates from 1876/1878.

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

Square Canister with long neck, Freer Gallery of Art

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 624).

Images

Subject

Description

Square Canister with long neck, Freer Gallery of Art

A square canister, lit from the left, so that the side vsible at right is in shadow. The Thompson catalogue described the subject as one of three similar canisters:

'Three Square Canisters, with long necks. On each side two female figures (Lange Lysen) holding plants; between the figures a growing shrub; below, a rock; above, a terrace with trees; round the neck a band of ornament; cover similarly ornamented. Mark, Jade in a funk panel. Height, 13 inches.' ²

Technique

Composition

Square Canister with long neck, Freer Gallery of Art

Square Canister with long neck, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute

This is an illustration for Plate XIV, Thompson 1878 [more]. There is one preliminary study, Square Canister with long neck m0623.

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 not known whether the drawings shown in 1905 were preparatory or final drawings.

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. 624) as 'Square Canister with long neck'.

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, p. 37 (cat. no. 195) repr. pl. XIV.

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.'

Books on Whistler

• Merrill, Linda, The Peacock Room. A Cultural Biography, New Haven and London, 1998, p. 53, fig. 5.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, New York and London, 1984, p. 173, pl. 85.

Websites

• Freer Gallery of Art website at https://asia.si.edu/object/F1907.175.