1967.45: Tiriel and his Children; verso: Female Figure with the Head of a Horse
DrawingsA drawing of a white bearded old man seated on a throne. He wears a brown robe and looks off into the distance with his arms hanging down by his side. A barefoot girl and boy kneel at his feet and rest their arms and heads on his lap. The girl has medium length blond hair and wears a white dress. The boy is shirtless and has a blue garment covering him to the knees. The figures are in an outdoor structure with pillars rising into an arched ceiling. Blue sky and clouds show through the spaces between pillars.
Identification and Creation
- Object Number
- 1967.45
- People
-
William Blake, British (London, England 1757 - 1827 London, England)
- Title
- Tiriel and his Children; verso: Female Figure with the Head of a Horse
- Other Titles
-
Alternate Title: An Enthroned Old Man Offering Two Children to Heaven
Former Title: Figures of Two Women and a Man
Former Title: The Parent's Blessing - Classification
- Drawings
- Work Type
- drawing
- Date
- c. 1789
- Culture
- British
- Persistent Link
- https://hvrd.art/o/296206
Physical Descriptions
- Medium
- Watercolor, black ink and graphite on cream laid paper; verso: graphite
- Dimensions
- 12.2 x 9.8 cm (4 13/16 x 3 7/8 in.)
Provenance
- Recorded Ownership History
-
Horace Elisha Scudder, Boston, possibly acquired in England circa 1860-1865, until at least 1891. [1] Mrs. Ingersoll Bowdich, Jamaica Plain, by 1940, sold; to Fogg Art Museum, 1967
Notes
[1] Included as the property of Scudder in the 1891 MFA Boston exhibition on Blake
Acquisition and Rights
- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Alpheus Hyatt Purchasing Fund
- Accession Year
- 1967
- Object Number
- 1967.45
- Division
- European and American Art
- Contact
- am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
- Permissions
-
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Publication History
- Exhibition of Drawings, Water Colors, and Engravings by William Blake, exh. cat., Alfred Mudge & Son (Boston, 1880), p. 20, cat. no. 120 as "The Parent's Blessing"
- Exhibition of Books, Water Colors, Engravings, etc., by William Blake, exh. cat., A. Mudge and Son (Boston, 1891), pp.15-16, cat. no. 27 as "The Parents' Blessing"
- Philip B. Grant, "A Possible Source for a Blake Sketch and Drawing", Blake Newsletter (1977), Vol. X, pp. 85-87, pp. 85-87, verso repr. p. 85 as fig. 1
- Martin Butlin, The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT and London, England, 1981), no. 88, pl. 97 (recto), pl. 98 (verso)
- William Blake, William Blake: paintings, watercolors, and drawings, exh. cat., Salander-O'Reilly Galleries (New York, NY, 1992), p. 20, cat. no. 1, repr., verso repr. as pl. 33
- Lowell Libson Ltd 2013, auct. cat., Lowell Libson Ltd (London, 2013), p. 45, repr. p. 48
- Martin Myrone and Amy Concannon, William Blake, exh. cat., Tate Publishing (London, 2019), no. 22, repr., p. 209 (checklist)
Exhibition History
- Exhibition of Drawings, Water Colors, and Engravings by William Blake, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 06/01/1880 - 06/01/1880
- Exhibition of Books, Water Colors, Engravings, Etc. by William Blake, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, 02/07/1891 - 03/15/1891
- William Blake: Paintings, Watercolors, and Drawings, Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, 11/02/1992 - 12/31/1992
- William Blake, Tate Britain, London, 09/11/2019 - 02/02/2020
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