Details

Title

Jug, Books, and Candle on a Cupboard Shelf

Artist/Maker

John Frederick Peto (American, 1854–1907)

Date

ca. 1890

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

30 1/4 x 22 1/8 inches

Credit

Gift of Julie and Arthur Montgomery, 1980.60

Accession #

1980.60

On View

Currently not on view

This simple tabletop assemblage features several of John Frederick Peto’s favorite motifs: tattered books, crockery, and other junk-shop miscellany. Peto was part of the late 1800s American revival of the seventeenth-century Dutch trompe l’oeil style (trick of the eye) and animated his compositions through playful arrangements. Here, a book cover hanging from its threads and a candle teetering atop the edge of a pipe introduce an element of tension. Peto’s preference for such humble, everyday objects gave his work an especially populist appeal.

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