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| Title | Still Life with a Copper Kettle, Candlestick and Flowers in a Glass | |
| Collection | Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle | |
| Artist | Mathieu, Alexis (French artist, active mid 19th century) | |
| Date | 1866 (dated) | |
| Signed | yes | |
| Description | This is possibly Mathieu's Salon entry for 1866, as the catalogue for that year records a 'tableau nature morte signé Mathieu'. Alexis Mathieu was a painter of still lifes; a student of Billou, he exhibited from 1866 to 1870. This still life is reminiscent of country life, with the rustic kettle and the flowers scattered on the table. It allowed the artist to show his skills at depicting reflections on various textures such as glass, brass and silver. Still life became much more of a genre of its own in the second half of the nineteenth century, when a number of emerging avant-garde artists practised their skills at representing inanimate objects in a new manner. | |
| Current Accession Number | B.M.986 | |
| Former Accession Number | No. 16m | |
| Inscription | front lr 'A. Mathieu. / 1866' | |
| Subject | still life | |
| Measurements | 32 x 24 cm (estimate) | |
| Material | oil on canvas | |
| Acquisition Details | Bequeathed by the founders John and Joséphine Bowes 1885. | |
| Provenance | Bought from Lepautre by Bowes, 28 April 1867, 14 francs 70. | |
| Principal Exhibitions | Salon de 1866, Paris, 1866, cat. no.1316. | |
| Notes | This is no. 16m in the 1877 MSS List. Joséphine Bowes also included this painting in her list of artists living in 1866, no. 16, under the title Nature Morte. Bouilloire, Chandelier; Verre avec Fleurs. She gave it a value of 50 francs. The 1866 Salon catalogue entry states that Alexis Mathieu was born in Paris and is a student of Billou. | |
| Rights Owner | The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, Co. Durham | |
| Author | Dr Maylis Hopewell-Curie | |