Bowdoin College Bowdoin Digital Commons Museum of Art Collection Catalogues Museum of Art 1981 Handbook of the Collections Bowdoin College. Museum of Art Margaret Burke Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/art-museum-collection- catalogs Part of the Fine Arts Commons, and the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons Recommended Citation Bowdoin College. Museum of Art and Burke, Margaret, "Handbook of the Collections" (1981). Museum of Art Collection Catalogues. 5. https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/art-museum-collection-catalogs/5 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Museum of Art at Bowdoin Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Museum of Art Collection Catalogues by an authorized administrator of Bowdoin Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Bowdoin College Museum of Art HANDBOOK of the Collections The Bowdoin College Library Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/handbookofcollecOObowd Handbook of the Collections Walter Art Building McKim, Mead & White, architects i8g2-i8g4 Bowdoin College Museum of Art HANDBOOK COLLECTIONS Edited by MARGARET R. BURKE BRUNSWICK, MAINE 1981 COVER DRAWING BASED ON ORNAMENTAL DETAILS OF THE WALKER ART BUILDING BY JOSEPH NICOLETTI TYPE COMPOSITION BY THE ANTHOENSEN PRESS OFFSET PRINTING BY THE MERIDEN GRAVURE COMPANY DESIGN BY JOHN McKEE This project is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, D.C., a federal agency. ISBN: 0-916606-01-5 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 81—66892 Copyright 1981 by the President and Trustees of Bowdoin College All rights reserved the memory ofJohn H. Halford, of the Class of igoy Table of Contents xi Acknowledgements xv Preface xv Editorial Key xvii History of the Collections i ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN ART 35 EUROPEAN PAINTING, SCULPTURE, AND DECORATIVE ARTS 67 THE MOLINARI COLLECTION OF MEDALS AND PLAQUETTES 83 AMERICAN PAINTING, SCULPTURE, AND DECORATIVE ARTS 135 THE WINSLOW HOMER COLLECTION 147 DRAWINGS, PRINTS, WATERCOLORS, AND PHOTOGRAPHS I94 FAR EASTERN ART 2l6 AFRICAN, NEW WORLD, AND PACIFIC ART 237 Index Acknowledgements A museum of art cannot continue to grow without the gen- erosity of special patrons whose support serves to encourage overall programming and the expansion of physical facili- ties and collections. Appropriately, the Bowdoin College Museum of Art Handbook of the Collections is dedicated to one such person, John H. Halford '07, who gave in many ways to the Museum of Art over a period of more than fifty years. We are particularly grateful to James M. Fawcett III '58, who made the publication of the Handbook possible; his donation, matched by the National Endowment for the Arts, guaranteed realization of the project. In addition, essential financial support for staff members concerned with the Handboo\ has come in part from the Institute of Museum Services, a federal agency, and the Maine State Commission on the Arts and the Humanities. The issuing of the Handbook^ also is an occasion to ac- knowledge the efforts of former directors who were con- cerned with the early stages of its publication: Marvin S. Sadik, Richard V. West, and R. Peter Mooz, who established the current format of the text. Professor Philip C. Beam, a former director and curator of the Winslow Homer Collec- tion, author of two earlier handbooks and of the section on the Homer Collection in this publication, has been a stimu- lating, thoughtful consultant throughout. Other members of the museum's staff have participated in varying phases of the Handbooks preparation. Margaret R. Burke, curator of collections and editor of the Handbook^ from 1976 to 1980, was responsible for much of the organiza- tion, wrote many of the entries, and brought the text to com- pletion. Laura Harrington '77, curatorial intern in 1977- 1978, did research for the checklists and drafted a number of introductory sections. The steady contribution as writer and editorial assistant of Kerry A. O'Brien '78, curatorial assistant at the time of final editing, lent momentum to the entire project. David P. Becker '70, formerly museum registrar, xii Acknowledgements aided in assembling the checklists of prints and drawings. We wish in addition to express our appreciation to Suzanne K. Bergeron, Kenneth G. Daniel, Russell J. Moore, Brenda M. Pelletier, Peter J. Simmons '78, and Roxlyn C. Yanok. The Handbook is enriched by the work of scholars outside the museum who evaluated collections, wrote chapter in- troductions and entries, compiled checklists, and answered innumerable technical questions. For sharing their time and knowledge, we are indebted to Fred C. Albertson, James D. Burke, Richard Hsiao, Evan M. Maurer, Deborah Del Gais Muller, Erik O. Nielsen, Andrea S. Norris, Eva Ray, Michael Richman '65, Robert F. Trent, Zdenka Volavka, and Stephen Wilkinson. Members of the Volunteers Association of the Bowdoin College Museum helped with the proofreading of the text and eased the responsibilities of the professional staff, freeing time for concentration on the Handbook Mary E. Tiffany '78, an art history major, helped during the organizational stages of the manuscript, and Barbara Schuster and Marie S. Bengtsson '8i of the College staff aided with secretarial work. John McKee of Bowdoin's Department of Art de- signed the book, took most of the recent photographs, and offered support and encouragement to all concerned. Joseph Nicoletti did the cover drawing, based on architectural or- namentation of the Walker Art Building. Members of the College's editorial office, Edward Born '57, Peter H. Vaughn, Rachel D. Dutch, and Susan L. Ransom, contributed in- valuable expertise. Another patron, without whom no project of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art could be concluded, must be cited and thanked—the College itself, students, administration, faculty, staff, and Governing Boards—whose endorsement of the museum has assured its steady growth over the years. We particularly wish to acknowledge Presidents Roger Howell, Jr. '58 and Willard F. Enteman, Dean Alfred H. Fuchs, and Vice President for Development C. Warren Ring, during whose terms of office the Handbook was writ- ten, and whose recognition of the excellence of the museum and its essential role in the cultural life of campus, com- Acknowledgements xiii munity, and state has given impetus to the institution's de- velopment. In particular, William Curtis Pierce '28, chair- man for twelve years of the Governing Boards' committee concerned with the Museum of Art, deserves special recogni- tion for his untiring efforts on behalf of the museum. The completion of the Handbook is a long-awaited event. Many of the collections little known outside of the College will, for the first time, become available to a larger public through the illustrated catalogue and checklists. We can think of no more appropriate way to recognize and express gratitude to those who have faithfully supported the Bow- doin College Museum of Art in the past and whose continu- ing interest remains essential for its future. Katharine J. Watson Director Preface This Handbook represents a major step in the museum's goal of generating public as well as scholarly interest in its extensive collections through publication. Thus the format of the Handbook is designed to serve as a general guide to individual objects and to provide sufficient information on particularly significant works of art to stimulate research. The Handbook is divided into eight sections, each repre- senting a specific area of the museum's holdings. Every sec- tion includes a brief historical introduction, essays on and illustrations of major works of art, and a selective checklist. In most cases, an art historian with a specialization in a par- ticular area served as a section or checklist author. Individ- ual contributions are indicated by the author's initials listed in the following key. At this time, the editor would like to express appreciation to everyone who has contributed to this extensive project and particularly to the art historical con- sultants, who have awaited the publication of the Handbook with patience. Margaret R. Burke Editor Editorial Key Alumni of Bowdoin College named in this Handbook are distinguished by class numerals directly following their names. The names of nineteenth-century alumni are fol- lowed by the four digits of their classes' years of graduation (1863), those of twentieth-century alumni by an apostrophe and two digits ('42). Recipients of honorary degrees have an : xvi Editorial Key h before their numerals (h '22), alumni of the Maine Medi- cal School an M (M 1889). Initials following chapter introductions and entries and preceding the lists of notes at the end of each chapter ac- knowledge authorship of those sections according to the following key Fred C. Albertson [f.c.a.] Philip C. Beam [p.C.B.] David P. Becker [d.p.b.] D. Burke r T.D• 1J ' BD - 1 James \_) J Margaret R. Burke [m.r.b.] Laura Harrington [l.h.] Richard Hsiao [r.h.] Evan M. Maurer [e.m.m.] Deborah Del Gais Muller [d. del g. m.] Erik O. Nielsen [e.o.n.] Andrea S. Norris [a.s.n.] Kerry A. O'Brien [k.a.o.] Eva Ray [e.r.] Michael Richman [m.r.] Robert F. Trent [r.f.t.] Zdenka Volavka [z.v.] Katharine J. Watson [k.j.w.] Richard V. West [r.v.w.] Stephen Wilkinson [s.w.] Measurements throughout are in inches, with their metric equivalents following in parentheses. Height always pre- cedes width; depth, where it is appropriate, always follows width. Diameter measurements are labelled where they occur. Where it is impossible to determine an exact date, the closest approximations are written together and punctuated with a slash (1861/2). * This symbol placed to the left of an entry in the "Selected Works from the Collection" at the end of each chapter indi- cates that the work is more fully described in an individual entry within the chapter itself.