Cylindrical vase with thick neck
Classification
Drawing
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Accession Number
F1907.174
Tags
American ArtCharles Lang Freer collectionUnited Statesflower
About this artwork
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 balan...