Celia Laighton Thaxter, R. Hollings & Co., and others

Oil Lamp

1879

Scroll

Decorator: Celia Laighton Thaxter
Retailer: R. Hollings & Co.
Manufacturer: Boston China Decorating Works

Oil Lamp

1879

Physical Qualities Ceramic, paint, metal, 26 x 8 x 8 in. (66 x 20.3 x 20.3 cm)

Credit Line Purchase with exchange funds from Gift from the Estate of Mrs. Charles R. Weld, Bequest of Alice Worthington Ball, Bequest of Ellen Howard Bayard, Gift of Mrs. C.C. Felton, Bequest of John M. Glenn, Gift of J. Gilman D'Arcy Paul, Bequest of Philip B. Perlman, Gift of William D. G. Scarlett, Young Friends of the American Wing Fund, and Gift of Lydia Howard de Roth in Memory of her Sister, Nancy H. DeFord Venable

Object Number 2006.121

Victorian parlor lamp with porcelain oil reserve painted by Celia Thaxter with olive branch motif and inscription. The graceful olive branches are Thaxter's most distinctive pattern. The inscription, which is included on all of Thaxter's oil branch paintings, is a quote, written in Greek, from Sophocles: "...my olive trees are the special care of Zeus, ' watched by the eye of olive-guarding Jove and by gray-eyed Athena.'"

The Baltimore Museum of Art by purchase, 2006; Skinner Auctioneers, Boston, Massachusetts; by decent through the family of the artist

Sharon Paiva Stephan, "One Woman's Work: The Visual Art of Celia Laighton Thaxter," New York: Portsmouth Athenaeum, 2001, p. 148.

"Making the Connection," The Baltimore Museum of Art, Annual Report 2007, p. 32, ill.

Inscribed: Stickers affixed to topside of base: 1. yellow sticker reads "117853" 2. auction sticker reads "2340 Skinner 113" Sticker affixed to bottom of base reads: "Ms. Celia T. Hubbard 29 Highland Street Cambridge, MA 02138-2209"

Markings: Mark on knob reads: "R. Hollings & Co. Boston Mass." Marked in Greek on vase "...my olive trees are the special care of Zeus, ' watched by the eye of olive-guarding Jove and by gray-eyed Athena.'"