Still-life with Glass, Gilt Ewer, and Fruit

Maker William Etty (British, 1787-1849)

Collections

British Paintings

ClassificationsPAINTINGS

Dateca. 1843

Mediumoil on panel

Dimensionspanel: 11 3/4 × 15 7/8 in. (29.8 × 40.3 cm.) frame: 18 3/4 × 23 × 2 in. (47.6 × 58.4 × 5.1 cm.)

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Label TextThis still-life, one of several executed by William Etty, boasts the same sensuous delight in the manipulation of oil-rich paint that characterizes the female nudes for which the artist is best known. Fascinated by the carnation and form of the female body, Etty produced countless figure studies during daily attendance at the Royal Academy Life School. Some of these were later transformed into scenes from classical history and mythology. In the same manner, still-life compositions that Etty painted for pleasure were often adapted to more ambitious purposes. Subject pictures such as Allegory contain exquisitely rendered arrangements of fruit, flowers, and goblets not unlike the present painting. However, a small coterie of collectors also prized Etty's still-lifes as independent works of art. The present painting was owned by Etty's friend and patron Henry Burton (1814-89), who was himself a landscape painter and a friend of John Constable. Along with several other paintings by Etty, Burton owned at least three still- lifes, of which the present work was evidently the earliest.
Etty's still-life paintings tend to be small. The largest, Pheasant and Bowl (private collection), measures 20 x 26 1/4 in., but its sketchy appearance and haphazard composition suggest that it is actually a preparatory study for a subject picture. Many of the still-lifes are executed on white gesso grounds that enabled Etty to maximize the transparency of his pigments. His subject matter tends to be derivative of Dutch painting, featuring such traditional (and often emblematic) elements as partially peeled lemons and curiously shaped vessels. Etty's strong sense of composition and his masterful handling of paint lend his still-lifes fresh interest. Here, he makes use of a loose, pyramidal composition in order to impose an orderly quality on the profusion of objects and colors.
Like many still-lifes, this painting plays wittily with ideas of illusion and reality. It is primarily a study in reflective surfaces, an experiment in the way light bounces off a range of objects, such as the golden ewer, the transparent glass, the iridescent shell, and the glossy fruits. These rich materials provide great scope for Etty's sensuous paint handling. Applying the paint with freedom and expression, he uses thick globs of yellow to denote the reflections on the gold ewer. Standing up from the surface of the panel, this impasto brushwork catches the actual light of the room, as do the white highlights on the tall glass. The juxtaposition of these two objects invites comparison of their reflective properties. Thus, we note that the ewer provides an illusionistic reflection of the red cherries and currants, while the tall glass beside it both reflects surrounding objects and also provides a transparent window through which we see the "real" cherries lying on the table. A further play on illusion and reality is provided by the grey-blue floral ornament that is painted on the surface of the glass. The convex and concave curves of both vessels distort the objects they reflect, enabling Etty to display his masterful powers of observation.
As a further challenge to perception, Etty paints the edge of a gilt picture frame resting against the marble table. It provides a rich addition to the sumptuous color scheme, but only through conscious analysis can we identify the object that provides this golden highlight. The chipped edge near the center of the table and the purple grape juice that stains the marble provide the sort of acutely realistic observations that still-life artists delight in representing. In addition to demonstrating the painter's wit and skill, these deliberately-created imperfections may serve the same purpose as the insects, rotten fruit, skulls, and other signs of decay that traditionally occur in still-lifes as symbols of the ephemerality of the material world.

Status

Not on view

Object number64.12