The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Treble-Gourd Vase with long neck, and Bowl with scalloped edge dates from 1876/1878.

Treble-Gourd Vase with long neck, and Bowl with scalloped edge, Whereabouts unknown

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

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 640).

Images

Subject

Description

Treble-Gourd Vase with long neck, and Bowl with scalloped edge, Whereabouts unknown

The Thompson catalogue described the subjects one of a pair of bottles, and one of a pair of bowls, as follows:

'No. 219. Pair of Treble-Gourd Bottles, with long necks. On the two lower gourds leaf-shaped panels with arabesque designs, ornamental bands and the sacred eye; on a blue ground. On the upper gourd four panels with an inscription connected by fillets of diaper; on the neck upright blue leaves with arabesque ornament. Height, 9 ¾ inches.'

'No. 286. Pair of Bowls, with scalloped edge with two rows of shield-shaped panels; on the upper row alternate aster and other flowers; the lower panels, which are moulded, similarly ornamented; on the inner lip a broad band of ornament; in the centre large aster flowers with scroll. Diameter, 8 inches.' ²

Technique

Composition

Treble-Gourd Vase with long neck, and Bowl with scalloped edge, Whereabouts unknown

This is an illustration for Plate XXI in Thompson 1878 [more].

Treble-Gourd Vase with long neck, and Bowl with scalloped edge, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute

There is one preliminary study, Treble-Gourd Vase with long neck, and Bowl with scalloped edge m0639.

History

Provenance

• 1876/1878: given to Murray Marks (1840-1918), London art dealer;
• Date unknown: acquired by Pickford Robert Waller (1849-1930), London;
• 1930: bequeathed to his daughter Sybil Christina Waller (1882-1973);
• 1966: eight drawings were sold at Christie's, London, 14 November 1966 (lots 93-99) and bought by Knoedler's, New York art dealers, for Shirley Latter Schlesinger Kaufmann (Mrs Robert B. Kaufmann) (1916-2003); ³
• 1996: auction Sotheby's, New York, 22 May 1996 (lot 39).

Exhibitions

• 1878: A Catalogue of Blue and White Porcelain forming the collection of Sir Henry Thompson, Murray Marks gallery, London, 1878.
• 1905: 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.'

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, and Square Canister with square neck, and saucer-shaped Dish m0631.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 640) as 'Treble-Gourd Vase with long neck, and Bowl with scalloped edge'.

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. nos. 219 and 286) repr. pl. XXI.

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

SALE:

• Sotheby's, New York, 22 May 1996 (lot 39).