The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Oviform Pot and cover dates from 1876/1878.

Oviform Pot and cover, 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. 647).

Images

Subject

Description

Oviform Pot and cover, Whereabouts unknown

The Thompson catalogue described the subject as follows:

'No. 331. Pair of Oviform Pots and Covers. In the centre four large and four small shield-shaped medallions connected by an arabesque design on a blue ground; above and below stiff leaves of various sizes; round the neck and foot a band of ornament. Height, 7 ¼ inches.' ²

Technique

Composition

Oviform Pot and cover, Whereabouts unknown

This was an reproduced as Plate XXVI in Thompson 1878 [more].

Oviform Pot and cover, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute

There is one preliminary study, Oviform Pot and cover m0646.

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 40) included Large Cylindrical Vase with hollow neck m0638, Oviform Pot and cover m0647 and Beaker with expanding neck m0649.

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. 647).

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. 331) repr. pl. XXVI.

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 40) included Large Cylindrical Vase with hollow neck m0638, Oviform Pot and cover m0647 and Beaker with expanding neck m0649.