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The Peacock Room at 49 Prince's Gate

Subject Relates to James McNeill Whistler American
1877–1905
Not on view
The interior designer Waller admired James McNeil Whistler and here freely records part of a famous interior created in 1877 for the London house of Frederick Leyland, a Liverpool shipping magnate. When the house was being remodelled, Thomas Jeckyll designed an Anglo-Japanese dining room that featured antique Spanish leather on the walls, with spindeled wooden shelves built to hold Leyland's Chinese porcelain collection. When Jeckyll fell ill, James McNeill Whistler volunteered to complete the decorations then, at his own volition, painted the leather blue and added extensive gold ornament, angering Leyland. This watercolor brightens the hues, and shows mirrors behind some of the shelves, possibly added by Leyland's heirs. In 1904, the collector Charles Freer purchased the room for his Detroit mansion, and it now is installed at the Freer Gallery, Washington DC.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Peacock Room at 49 Prince's Gate
  • Artist: Pickford Robert Waller (British, London 1849–1930 Bournemouth)
  • Subject: Relates to James McNeill Whistler (American, Lowell, Massachusetts 1834–1903 London)
  • Date: 1877–1905
  • Medium: Watercolor over graphite
  • Dimensions: sheet: 10 11/16 x 7 3/4 in. (27.1 x 19.7 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Gift of Paul F. Walter, 1985
  • Object Number: 1985.1161.38
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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The Butterfly Badge, Pickford Robert Waller British, Pen and brown ink and watercolor
The Butterfly Badge
Pickford Robert Waller
James McNeill Whistler
1875–1930
Newspaper Cuttings from The Architect; The Art Annual; The Bat; The Boy's Own Paper; The British Architect; Building News; Daily Graphic; Daily News; The Daily Telegraph; Echo; Evening Echo; Figaro; Fun; Graphic; Harper's; The Hornet; The Hour; Illustrated London News; Observer; The Pall Mall Gazette; The Portfolio; Society; The Star; Telegraph; The Times; Time, A Monthly Magazine; The West Middlesex Advertiser; The World
Multiple artists/makers
ca. 1873–ca. 1908
Butterfly Badge, Pickford Robert Waller British, Pen and ink and watercolor
Butterfly Badge
Pickford Robert Waller
James McNeill Whistler
1875–1930
The Lake of Zug, Joseph Mallord William Turner British, Watercolor and bodycolor (gouache) with reductive techniques over graphite
The Lake of Zug
Joseph Mallord William Turner
1843
Lindisfarne Castle, Holy Island, Northumberland, Thomas Girtin British, Watercolor and bodycolor (gouache)
Lindisfarne Castle, Holy Island, Northumberland
Thomas Girtin
1796–97

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