Deep Bowl

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Deep Bowl

Place of OriginUnited States, Probably New Jersey

Date1820-1850

DimensionsH: 14.0 cm (5 1/2 in.); Rim Diam: 21.5 cm (8 1/2 in.); Base Diam: 17.1 cm (6 3/4 in.)

MediumLight greenish window glass.

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineGift of Mrs. H. W. Gardner and Mrs. H. L. Smallman

Object number

1955.21

Not on View

DescriptionBlown and finished by tooling. Hollow rim folded outward. Deep kick-up in base. Large rough pontil mark.

Label TextIn this lush painting, the late afternoon landscape almost glows as it is touched by the pinks and yellows of the setting sun. Almost in the center of the canvas, a pretty young woman on horseback carries a basket of eggs purchased at the market. The young man at her left speaks to her as their two companions turn to watch this interchange. The flirtatious sentiment that pervades the figure group is in harmony with the vitality of the landscape. The earl of Shelburne commissioned Gainsborough to paint The Road from Market for the drawing room at Bowood, Shelburne’s country house near Bath, England. Shelburne would later become prime minister of Great Britain and negotiate the Treaty of Paris of 1783 that concluded the American Revolution. He desired to decorate his house with a series of masterpieces executed by leading British artists, an ambitious project that was “intended to lay the foundation of a school of British landscapes.” Gainsborough’s contribution beautifully distills the essence of the English countryside it celebrates.Published ReferencesWilson, Kenneth M., American Glass, 1760-1930: The Toledo Museum of Art, New York: Hudson Hills Press in association with the Toledo Museum of Art, [Lanham, Md.]: National Book Network [distributor], c1994; 2 v. (879 p.): ill. (some col.); 32 cm., 1994, p. 137, no. 108.