8.1955.192: Head of a Soothsayer, for "Belshazzar's Feast"

Identification and Creation

Object Number

8.1955.192

People

Washington Allston, American (Georgetown, SC 1779 - 1843 Cambridge, MA)

Title

Head of a Soothsayer, for "Belshazzar's Feast"

Other Titles

Alternate Title: Profile head of a bearded man with headdress in turbans and long robes

Classification

Drawings

Work Type

drawing

Date

1839 - 1843

Culture

American

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/305665

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Black ink on heavy blue wove paper

Dimensions

9.5 x 7.8 cm (3 3/4 x 3 1/16 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• inscription: verso, graphite, in artist's hand: [mostly illegible as sheet was cut down and inscription is partly obscured by old adhesive and hinges:] This little [ ] / us [ ] for the [ ] / of a friend; and [ ] / needy for the [ ] / long ago as [ ] / but the [ ] / soon after disconti[ ] / manuscript [ ] thrown in / the [ ] / it has [ ] / [ ]
• label: verso, paper: 264

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

To the artist's wife Martha Dana Allston at his death, 1843; to the Washington Allston Trust, 1862.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Loan from The Washington Allston Trust

Object Number

8.1955.192

Division

European and American Art

Contact

am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu

Permissions

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Publication History

• Kenyon Castle Bolton, III, "The Drawings of Washington Allston: A Catalogue Raisonné" (Ph.D. Diss., Harvard University, 1977), no. 63B, reproduced in b/w fig. 146

Verification Level