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An ink drawing of a large man holding an oversized quill and pencil, made for a magazine cover.

The ink drawing depicts a portly figure holding a quill and a double-sided pencil that are half his height. He wears a large cape with two ornamental flourishes at the outside corners, and an inside lining with a dotted pattern. At his neck and left wrist are large corsages, and his top hat and boots are decorated with wings. A dog’s face and paw appear in the bottom left corner. Floral wreaths with bows stretch across the bottom of the background. Marked in faint graphite around the figure is area for the magazine’s title “THE SAVOY” and other lettering.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1986.676
People
Aubrey Vincent Beardsley, British (Brighton, England 1872 - 1898 Menton, France)
Title
John Bull, Contents Page, "The Savoy"
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1895
Culture
British
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/295039

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Black ink and graphite on off-white wove paper
Dimensions
23.3 x 18.1 cm (9 3/16 x 7 1/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Leonard Smithers. Fritz Waerndorfer(?); Lily Waerndorfer by 1911(?). [Paul Graupe, Berlin], 1918. [Gilhofer and Ranschburg, Vienna]. [Martin Birnbaum], sold 1924; to Scofield Thayer, bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1986

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Standard Reference Number
Zatlin 993

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Scofield Thayer
Accession Year
1986
Object Number
1986.676
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Linda Gertner Zatlin, Aubrey Beardsley and Victorian Sexual Politics, The Clarendon Press (Oxford, England, 1990), p. 43, fig. 15
  • James Dempsey, The Tortured Life of Scofield Thayer, University Press of Florida (Gainesville, FL, 2014), pp. 58, 186
  • Linda Gertner Zatlin, Aubrey Beardsley: A Catalogue Raisonné, Yale University Press (U.S.) (New Haven and London, 2016), vol. 2, no. 993, pp. 246, 248-249, repr. p. 248
  • Stephen Calloway and Caroline Corbeau-Parsons, ed., Aubrey Beardsley, exh. cat., Tate Publishing (London, 2020), checklist no. 151, repr. p. 140

Exhibition History

  • Aubrey Beardsley, Tate Britain, London, 03/04/2020 - 09/20/2020; Musée d'Orsay, 10/12/2020 - 01/10/2021

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu