The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Still Life with Pipe and Matches and Still Life with Herring, Bread, and Cheese (pair)

Still Life with Pipe and Matches and Still Life with Herring, Bread, and Cheese (pair)

1858
(French, 1803–1860)
France, 19th century
oil on fabric
Unframed: 63 x 38 cm (24 13/16 x 14 15/16 in.)
Bequest of Noah L. Butkin 1980.254
Location: not on view

Description

The artist was a smoker. In this composition the place of honor is given to a pipe made in Austria around the middle of the 19th century. It is made of precious materials—meerschaum, silver, amber, horn or lacquered wood—that are carefully fashioned, all lovingly rendered by the artist. The cord with a tassel (perhaps of horsehair) is not just a decorative element, it is a security measure in case the precious bowl of the pipe becomes detached from the pipe stem. The pipe is surrounded by ordinary smoker's accessories—a cigar case, a snuffbox, and a match holder in porcelain—all placed on a Turkish rug. The Latin inscription translates: "Use, not abuse." In 1858 Decamps was 55 years old and not in the best of health. Perhaps a doctor had advised him to reduce his consumption of tobacco.
  • Decamps sale, Paris, Drouot, 23-24 January 1865 (lots 26, 27), bought by M. Desprez for ff 300, ff 225. His collection sale, Versailles, 17 December 1972 (lot 218), to Georges Martin du Nord at Galerie B. G. Verte, Paris. Sold to Galerie Brame-Lorenceau, Paris. Bought by Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin, Cleveland. Bequeathed to the CMA in 1980.
  • Argencourt, Louise d', and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 208-211, Vol. I, nos. 75, 76
    Herring, Sarah. The Nineteenth-Century French Paintings. London : National Gallery Company, 2019. Mentioned and reproduced: pp.132-133, figs. 22 and 23
    Delapierre, Emmanuelle. "Dans la Cuisine de Ribot: le Realisme de l'Objet." In Théodule Ribot, 1823-1891: Une Délicieuse Obscurité. Emmanuelle Delapierre, Luc Georget, Gabriel Weisberg, eds., 58-117. Paris: LienArt, 2021. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 94, fig. 28
  • The Magic of Still Life. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 4, 1986-February 1, 1987).
    Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981).
  • {{cite web|title=Still Life with Pipe and Matches and Still Life with Herring, Bread, and Cheese (pair)|url=false|author=Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps|year=1858|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1980.254