Afternoon Tea

Artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler (American, 1834 - 1903)

Date1897

MediumTransfer lithograph on paper

DimensionsFramed: 19 3/4 × 15 1/8 × 1 1/4 inches (50.17 × 38.42 × 3.18 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Bloch

Object number2022.16

SignedThe title "Afternoon Tea" is written in graphite pencil at lower left.

InscribedOn the verso, at lower right are two inscriptions, both in graphite pencil but in different hands: along the lower edge is the notation "146719," and in the corner is a two-line inscription reading “€479\100.11.”

On View

Not on view

Collections

American Art

Terms

DescriptionThis lithograph is printed in tones of black and gray on cream-colored paper. It depicts two sketchily rendered women who sit in a vaguely described interior space with a small table at the far right laden with a tea service and what appears to be a small bouquet. The woman at the far left of the composition appears older than the woman at the right. She gazes towards her younger companion with her chin resting in her proper left hand. She is dressed in dark attire with a dark head covered tied with a bow under her chin. The woman at the right is similarly dressed in a dark costume with a long, full skirt and a high collar that frames her face and sharp chin. Her hair is swept up under a dark hat that is tipped slightly forward and may be adorned with plumes.Provenance

Provenance

Purchased from Mission Road Antique Mall, Prairie Village, Kansas, ca. 2015-2017;

Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Bloch, Mission Hills, Kansas;

Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City Missouri, 2022.

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