Skip to main content
Advanced Search
Portrait of a standing woman, cropped at the bottom of the canvas at knee level. She stands in …
Lady with Goldfish Bowl
Portrait of a standing woman, cropped at the bottom of the canvas at knee level. She stands in …
Portrait of a standing woman, cropped at the bottom of the canvas at knee level. She stands in three-quarter profile to her proper right and holds in both hands at head level a clear glass goldfish bowl. The bowl is of a bulbous goblet shape with foot, stem, and flared rim, containing water and two multicolored fish. The woman wears a rose-colored bodice top over a brown skirt with white "apron" front. A round-buckled strap hangs from the waist around the proper left hip and down off-canvas.
Lady with Goldfish Bowl, Julian Story, n. d., oil on canvas, Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia.

Lady with Goldfish Bowl

Artist (American, 1857 - 1919)
Datebefore 1919
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsCanvas: 50 1/4 × 34 1/2 inches (127.6 × 87.6 cm)
Framed: 55 3/4 × 40 1/4 inches (141.6 × 102.2 cm)
Credit LineGift of the estate of Vera Story Roosevelt in memory of her daughter Felicity (Bebe) Benoliel.
Object number2001.21
On View
On view
CopyrightThe images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextAt Telfair Museums, Julian Story has long been admired as the painter of The Black Prince at Crécy (1888), the largest painting in the museum’s collection. However, that massive history painting, currently on view downstairs in the Rotunda Gallery, is in many ways atypical of Story’s work. Lady with Goldfish Bowl is a fine example of Story’s portraiture, for which he was best known. The son of American poet and sculptor William Wetmore Story, Julian Russell Story was born in Walton-on-Thames, England, and spent much of his life abroad. Lady with a Goldfish Bowl is an excellent example of Story’s portraiture. The attractive model, whose identity is unknown, holds a goldfish bowl to the light, admiring the fish within. Her informal dress suggests that she may be a house servant, or perhaps she is intended to represent a figure from an earlier era. The fluid, painterly brushstrokes are characteristic of Story’s technique and link this serene portrait to the dynamic Black Prince.
Collections
Telfair Museum
Copyright © Telfair Museum