The Old Kettle

c. 1890s

John Frederick Peto

Painter, American, 1854 - 1907

A dented copper kettle rests on a forest-green tablecloth in this horizontal still life painting. The kettle takes up the left two-thirds of the composition, and the finial of the lid and the tall spout nearly reach the top edge of the painting. The spout is angled to our right, and the far side of the kettle beyond the spout falls into shadow. The lid sits loosely on the opening. A thin, yellow matchstick with a dark blue head lays flat on the tablecloth just in front of the kettle and below its spout. A tornado-shaped area gouge is dug out of the elephant-gray wall behind the kettle.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 69-A

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on wood

  • Credit Line

    Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

  • Dimensions

    overall: 12.7 x 20.3 cm (5 x 8 in.)
    framed: 22.86 x 29.85 x 2.22 cm (9 x 11 3/4 x 7/8 in.)

  • Accession

    1999.79.31

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(sale, Sotheby's, New York, 19 June 1981, no. 31); purchased by (Davis & Langdale Co., Inc., New York) for Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, Upperville, Virginia; bequest 1999 to NGA.

Associated Names

Inscriptions

by the artist's daughter, Helen Peto Smiley, reverse: Painted by My Father John Frederick Peto / Helen Peto Smiley

Wikidata ID

Q20190199

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