An iridescent peacock feather is delicately drawn vertically in the center of the off-white paper.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A short-stemmed peacock feather with its iridescent eye pattern in the center top with dark blue-purple at the center, is encircled by teal, a wider rim of egg-shaped orange, then a thin line of aqua-green. Floating out of the center are iridescent string-like smaller feathers (barbs) pointing upward. From midway to the bottom the feather stem consists of soft, shorter fluff of darker grey, gradating into white towards the bottom. The feather casts a slight soft shadow on the lower right. There’s no background, only the paper surface.　

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1917.6
People
Charles Herbert Moore, American (New York, NY 1840 - 1930 Harley Witney, Hampshire, England)
Title
Peacock Feather
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
c. 1879-1882
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/305885

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Watercolor and gouache on off-white wove paper
Dimensions
30.5 x 24.6 cm (12 x 9 11/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: graphite, l.r.: C. H. Moore / 1917

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Denman W. Ross, Cambridge, MA; his gift to the Fogg Art Museum, 1917.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Dr. Denman W. Ross
Accession Year
1917
Object Number
1917.6
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr. and Susan C. Ricci, "The Last Ruskinians", American Art Review (March -April 2007), XIX, no. 2, pp. 80-89, repr. p. 84
  • Christopher Newall, Review of "The Last Ruskinians: Charles Eliot Norton, Charles Herbert Moore, and their Circle", The Burlington Magazine (October 2007), CXLIX, no. 1255, pp. 709-710, p. 710, fig. 51
  • Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., Virginia Anderson, Melissa Renn, and Susan C. Ricci, The Last Ruskinians: Charles Eliot Norton, Charles Herbert Moore, and Their Circle, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2007), pp. 21, 36, 66, 93, pl. 18 and cover (detail)
  • Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., Virginia Anderson, and Kimberly Orcutt, ed., American Paintings at Harvard, Volume Two, Paintings, Drawings, Pastels and Stained Glass by Artists Born 1826-1856, Harvard Art Museums and Yale University Press (U.S.) (Cambridge, MA and New Haven, CT, 2008), p. 240, cat. 197, ill.

Exhibition History

  • American Watercolor Society Fifteenth Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York, 01/01/1882 - 01/01/1882
  • The Last Ruskinians: Charles Eliot Norton, Charles Herbert Moore, and Their Circle, Harvard University Art Museums, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 04/07/2007 - 07/08/2007
  • Re-View: S426A (Large Niche) #1: CB30 Photography and Society & HAA172w American Art and Modernity, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 09/04/2009 - 10/04/2009

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