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Still life of two dead game birds hanging upside down, attached together by the claw strung up to a nail.

The birds are painted hanging in the center by a nail against pine wall boards with noticeable wood grain and knots. They both have long skinny bills, one points left, the other right from being tied together. Each of their delicate untied claws are splayed out. The bird on the left has a soft orange chest, both have dark brown, ochre, and grey wings. It’s very lifelike in appearance, evenly lit, with a shadow behind the bird on the right against the wall.

Gallery Text

Deeply rooted in the history of art, the trompe l’oeil (literally, “deceive the eye”) tradition enjoyed a renaissance in the United States in the late 19th century. Audiences were drawn to the work of George Cope and a larger circle of Philadelphia artists who achieved wondrous feats of illusionism and tricked the eye with scenes related to the hunt.

In "Hanging Woodcock," Cope’s virtuosic handling of paint is on full display: he manages to convincingly render both the soft feel of downy feathers and the hard, splintery surface of knotted pine planks. The illusion extends to the top and bottom of the canvas, where tiny nailheads penetrate the boards. For urban audiences faced with a proliferating array of shape-shifters and swindlers, trompe l’oeil paintings like this one offered a valuable lesson in the importance of distrusting appearance.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2018.230
People
George Cope, American (West Chester, Pennsylvania 1855 - 1929 West Chester, Pennsylvania)
Title
Hanging Woodcock
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Still Life with Game Birds
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
1897
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/362477

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
56 × 38 cm (22 1/16 × 14 15/16 in.)
framed: 75.5 × 58 cm (29 3/4 × 22 13/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: lower left: George Cope '97
  • label: verso of back board, printed text: 138
  • label: verso of back board, printed text: 8200055 / COPE, GEORGE / STILL LIFE OF GAME BIRDS / OIL ON CANVAS, 22" x 15". SIGNED AND
  • stamp: verso, top stretcher, brown ink: [illegible text] / 15
  • inscription: verso, bottom stretcher, blue chalk: X
  • stamp: verso, bottom stretcher: The PELE [illegible text] COL [?]

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Private Collection, Connecticut. [Shannon's Fine Art Auctioneers, Milford, Connecticut, October 21, 2004], sold; to Daniel A. Pollock, New York

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Daniel A. Pollack and Susan F. Pollack, Harvard Classes of 1960 and 1964
Accession Year
2018
Object Number
2018.230
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • 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), pp. 73, cat. no. 43, repr.
  • "Harvard Art Museums Receive Important Gift of American Silver", Artfixdaily Artwire ([e-journal], March 22, 2022), https://www.artfixdaily.com/artwire/release/6573-harvard-art-museums-receive-important-gift-of-american-silver, accessed March 24, 2022

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 2100 19th Century, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 07/18/2019 - 03/20/2023

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