Peter Arrell Brown Widener

Widener Collection

American, 1834 - 1915

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Chinese Qing Dynasty, Amphora Vase, Kangxi period, 1662/1722, porcelain with peachbloom glaze, Widener Collection, 1942.9.520

Amphora Vase

Chinese Qing Dynasty · Kangxi period, 1662/1722 · porcelain with peachbloom glaze ·  Accession ID  1942.9.520

Deruta 16th Century, Large dish with segmental border of plant sprays and scale pattern; in the center, an emblematic female figure holding a crowned toad and cornucopia, c. 1510/1540, tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica), Widener Collection, 1942.9.317

Large dish with segmental border of plant sprays and scale pattern; in the center, an emblematic female figure holding a crowned toad and cornucopia

Deruta 16th Century · c. 1510/1540 · tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica) ·  Accession ID  1942.9.317

Alfred André, Pendant with Europa and the Bull, 1870/1890, baroque pearl; gold enameled in white, black, dark green, pale blue, translucent red, green, yellow, and blue; 22 colorless stones (sapphires, diamonds), 1 blue sapphire, 19 red stones (rubies, glass), 6 pearls, Widener Collection, 1942.9.304

Pendant with Europa and the Bull

Alfred André · 1870/1890 · baroque pearl; gold enameled in white, black, dark green, pale blue, translucent red, green, yellow, and blue; 22 colorless stones (sapphires, diamonds), 1 blue sapphire, 19 red stones (rubies, glass), 6 pearls ·  Accession ID  1942.9.304

Chinese Qing Dynasty, Reticulated Perfume Ball, Kangxi period, 1662/1722, porcelain with famille verte enamels on the biscuit, Widener Collection, 1942.9.566

Reticulated Perfume Ball

Chinese Qing Dynasty · Kangxi period, 1662/1722 · porcelain with famille verte enamels on the biscuit ·  Accession ID  1942.9.566

A bearded man, a young man, and five monks stand in a cream-white hall hung with a map and paintings in this horizontal painting. The people all have pale, peachy skin. The scene is lit from windows lining the wall to our left, where three monks stand, presumably talking. They and the other two monks wear long white robes with marine-blue hoods and cloth panels that hang down the fronts of the cassocks. Two monks have their hoods up and the other two have their hair cut into rings around their heads. The bearded man, Christopher Columbus, stands to the right on the other side of the hall, looking at a map hanging there. He has chin-length, dark hair and wears a bronze-brown, knee-length jacket, dark blue, knee-length pantaloons, and golden yellow stockings. His right hand, closer to us, is planted palm out against his hip, and he holds a red hat in that hand. The other foot is perched on a long bench that stretches along that wall. The young man sits and leans back on the bench with one forearm along the bench’s armrest. His other hand rests on Columbus’s knee, and Columbus rests his hand on that. The boy has long brown hair and wears a red cap, a parchment-white robe over yellow sleeves, sage-green stockings, and laced, toeless boots. Two bundles and a long stick are against the wall on our side of the bench. An object on the floor next to Columbus’s standing leg is covered by a brown cloth. A gold chain and a pink hoof protrude from the blanket. One of the monks standing behind Columbus wears a tight-fitting blue cap. A rosary hangs over his cassock from his waist, and extra panels of blue fabric drape down over his shoulders. Four paintings in our view hang near the high ceiling of the hall, which has arched openings and a pink floor. Doors or oversized shutters swing into view at the far end of the hall. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower left corner, “Eug. Delacroix. 1838.”
Eugène Delacroix, Christopher Columbus and His Son at La Rábida, 1838, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.127

Christopher Columbus and His Son at La Rábida

Eugène Delacroix · 1838 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.127

Chinese Qing Dynasty, Baluster Vase, Kangxi period, 1662/1722, porcelain with overglaze famille verte enamels, Widener Collection, 1942.9.630

Baluster Vase

Chinese Qing Dynasty · Kangxi period, 1662/1722 · porcelain with overglaze famille verte enamels ·  Accession ID  1942.9.630

Shown from the waist up, a young, pale-skinned woman faces our left in profile, filling the height of this vertical portrait painting. She is brightly lit from the left and set against an inky black background. A faint eyebrow arches over the green eye we can see, and her blush pink lips are closed. Her auburn-red hair is pulled back with a few loose strands brushing her pale cheek. A cluster of jewels, like a brooch, is affixed to a thin, black band that encircles her brow, over her ear. The brooch has an azure-blue jewel over a knot of four topaz-brown gems, all set in gold. Four pink pearls hang from the bottom edge, and a banner with the words “MERITO ET TEMPORE” intertwines among the jewels along the top. Long, black loops hang from the headband to brush the woman’s shoulder. The headband wraps over an elaborate headdress that covers the back of her head like a cap. The headdress is a golden net adorned with pearls, garnets, and other gems. A thick ponytail falls down her back past her waist, and is wrapped with crisscrossing strands of black and white pearls. Her dress has a low-cut, square neckline, a tight-fitting bodice, and a flaring skirt. The fabric is patterned with stylized flowers and leaves outlined in brown against honey gold. A strand of gleaming white pearls hangs around her thin, long neck over a gold chain with a pendant made up of black and ruby-red gems. One more teardrop-shaped pearl hangs from the bottom of the pendant. A gem-studded, gold belt wraps around her waist. A red carnation is tucked into the belt near her elbow. The sleeve we can see is tied onto the bodice at the shoulder with black cord over cream-white fabric, which cascades out from the wide seams across the shoulder and down the back of the arm.
Ambrogio de Predis, Bianca Maria Sforza, probably 1493, oil on poplar panel, Widener Collection, 1942.9.53

Bianca Maria Sforza

Ambrogio de Predis · probably 1493 · oil on poplar panel ·  Accession ID  1942.9.53

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, View near Epernon, 1850/1860, oil on canvas, Widener Collection, 1942.9.13

View near Epernon

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot · 1850/1860 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1942.9.13

Jean-Antoine Houdon, Louise Brongniart, 1777, marble, Widener Collection, 1942.9.124

Louise Brongniart

Jean-Antoine Houdon · 1777 · marble ·  Accession ID  1942.9.124

Urbino district 16th Century, Venetian 16th Century, Plate with border of putti and trophies amid grotesques; in the center, a winged putto standing, armed, in a landscape, c. 1510/1520, tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica), Widener Collection, 1942.9.313

Plate with border of putti and trophies amid grotesques; in the center, a winged putto standing, armed, in a landscape

Urbino district 16th Century, Venetian 16th Century · c. 1510/1520 · tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica) ·  Accession ID  1942.9.313

Bibliography

1915

  • "P.A.B. Widener, Capitalist, Dies." The New York Times (7 November 1915): 5:1.

1932

  • "The Widener House." Fortune VI, no. 3 (September 1932): 62.

1940

  • Widener, P.A.B. Without Drums. New York, 1940.

1973

  • Finley, David. A Standard of Excellence. Washington, 1973.

1974

  • Walker, John. Self-Portrait with Donors. Boston, 1974.

1993

  • Lewis, Michael J."'He was not a Connoisseur': Peter Widener and his House." Nineteenth Century 12, no. 3 and 4 (1993): 27-36.

2002

  • Quodbach, Esmé. "'The last of the American Versailles': the Widener Collection at Lynnewood Hall." Simiolus 29, no. 1/2 (2002): 42-96.

2003

  • Minty, Nancy T. Dutch and Flemish Seventeeth-Century Art in America, 1800-1940: Collections, Connoisseurship and Perceptions. Ph.D. diss, New York University, 2003:172-194, 444-494