Cylindrical vase with thick neck
date: label: Date
content: 1876
name: label: Artist
content: James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)
notes: label: Label
content: Two preliminary sketches precede the final version of this Rouleu vase, clumsily described in the Thompson catalogue as cylindrical vase, with thick neck. The elegant vase stood 18" tall and was probably an 18th-century piece. Prunus branches decorate the vase--these were popularly called hawthorne blossoms during the 1870's. One of Whistler's sketches is awkward in outline, executed on blue paper in gray and blue wash heightened with white. The other has a midline that helps establish the balanced symmetry of the form. In the final version Whistler eliminated most of the shadowy still life background and titled the vase slightly forward, emphasizing its undercut foot and strong silhouette. It was drawn with light-colored ink before the dark background was filled in using a rich wash that left the prunus blossoms in reserve as they would have been on the original porcelain.
label: Provenance
content: To 1907
label: Provenance
content: Obach & Co., London, to 1907 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1907 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Obach & Co. in 1907 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] See List of Whistler Purchases Since Making Up the Smithsonian Inventory, pg. 5, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Ruffled Feathers: Creating Whistler's Peacock Room (July 13, 2024 to January 21, 2027)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinamania (2016) (July 9, 2016 to June 4, 2017)
label: Exhibition History
content: Chinamania (2010) (August 7, 2010 to August 7, 2011)
label: Exhibition History
content: Freer South Corridor (May 9 to August 9, 1993)
label: Exhibition History
content: James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art (May 11, 1984 to December 5, 1984)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Obach & Co. (1884-1911) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: United States
topic: label: Topic
content: flower
label: Topic
content: United States
label: Topic
content: American Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1907.174
objectType: label: Type
content: Drawing
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Pencil, ink, and wash on cream wove paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 20.5 x 14.1 cm (8 1/16 x 5 9/16 in)