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A drawing of a seated old man with a girl and a boy kneeling at his feet. .

A drawing of a white bearded old man seated on a throne. He wears a brown robe and looks off into the distance with his arms hanging down by his side. A barefoot girl and boy kneel at his feet and rest their arms and heads on his lap. The girl has medium length blond hair and wears a white dress. The boy is shirtless and has a blue garment covering him to the knees. The figures are in an outdoor structure with pillars rising into an arched ceiling. Blue sky and clouds show through the spaces between pillars.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1967.45
People
William Blake, British (London, England 1757 - 1827 London, England)
Title
Tiriel and his Children; verso: Female Figure with the Head of a Horse
Other Titles
Alternate Title: An Enthroned Old Man Offering Two Children to Heaven
Former Title: Figures of Two Women and a Man
Former Title: The Parent's Blessing
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
c. 1789
Culture
British
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/296206

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Watercolor, black ink and graphite on cream laid paper; verso: graphite
Dimensions
12.2 x 9.8 cm (4 13/16 x 3 7/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Horace Elisha Scudder, Boston, possibly acquired in England circa 1860-1865, until at least 1891. [1] Mrs. Ingersoll Bowdich, Jamaica Plain, by 1940, sold; to Fogg Art Museum, 1967

Notes
[1] Included as the property of Scudder in the 1891 MFA Boston exhibition on Blake

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Alpheus Hyatt Purchasing Fund
Accession Year
1967
Object Number
1967.45
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • Exhibition of Drawings, Water Colors, and Engravings by William Blake, exh. cat., Alfred Mudge & Son (Boston, 1880), p. 20, cat. no. 120 as "The Parent's Blessing"
  • Exhibition of Books, Water Colors, Engravings, etc., by William Blake, exh. cat., A. Mudge and Son (Boston, 1891), pp.15-16, cat. no. 27 as "The Parents' Blessing"
  • Philip B. Grant, "A Possible Source for a Blake Sketch and Drawing", Blake Newsletter (1977), Vol. X, pp. 85-87, pp. 85-87, verso repr. p. 85 as fig. 1
  • Martin Butlin, The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT and London, England, 1981), no. 88, pl. 97 (recto), pl. 98 (verso)
  • William Blake, William Blake: paintings, watercolors, and drawings, exh. cat., Salander-O'Reilly Galleries (New York, NY, 1992), p. 20, cat. no. 1, repr., verso repr. as pl. 33
  • Lowell Libson Ltd 2013, auct. cat., Lowell Libson Ltd (London, 2013), p. 45, repr. p. 48
  • Martin Myrone and Amy Concannon, William Blake, exh. cat., Tate Publishing (London, 2019), no. 22, repr., p. 209 (checklist)

Exhibition History

  • Exhibition of Drawings, Water Colors, and Engravings by William Blake, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 06/01/1880 - 06/01/1880
  • Exhibition of Books, Water Colors, Engravings, Etc. by William Blake, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, 02/07/1891 - 03/15/1891
  • William Blake: Paintings, Watercolors, and Drawings, Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, 11/02/1992 - 12/31/1992
  • William Blake, Tate Britain, London, 09/11/2019 - 02/02/2020

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu