Fruit in Yellow Bowl

Dateca.1840

Artist Mary R. Wilson (active ca. 1840)

OriginAmerica, Massachusetts, Boston (probably)

MediumWatercolor and gold-foil collage on wove paper

DimensionsPrimary support: 10 1/8" x 17 1/2" and Framed: 12 3/8" x 19 7/16"

Credit LineGift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller

Object number1931.303.2

DescriptionAn arrangement of fruit in a wide, low, footed bowl. Strips of gold paper define the rims, neck, and base of the bowl and cover the lower edge, the latter presumably meant to represent a table top. The fruits include cherries, melons, pears, strawberries, and peaches, some stems retaining their leaves and with large sprays of leaves at either side.

The 1 1/4-inch gilded and molded frame is probably a period replacement.
Label TextMary Wilson's exceptionally well-executed still life illustrates the degree of sensitivity that theorem artists sometimes realized in their work. Her imaginative use of stylized elements is evident in the circular highlighting of th grapes, the stippled shading of the pear, and the delicately rendered diamond motif onthe bowl. Applied gold foil embellishes the compote and simulates a tabletop. Wilson attempted a suggestion of depth by painting the open areas between fruit and leaves a rich blue-green color. Nothing is known about the artist.
InscribedA freehand inscription in ink on the wooden backboard reads: "Painted by Mary R. Wilson".
ProvenanceFound in Boston, Mass., and purchased by Edith Gregor Halpert, Downtown Gallery, New York, NY; purchased from Halpert by Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., in 1931; loaned by Rockefeller to CWF in 1935; given to CWF by Rockefeller in 1939.