"The Story of the Beautiful – Freer, Whistler, & Their Points of Contact"
The Smithsonian's Freer Gallery of Art, in collaboration with Wayne State University in Detroit, has created an online virtual tour of James McNeill Whistler's decorating masterpiece, The Peacock Room. In one section of the site, visitors can take a 360˚ tour of the famous (and infamous) dining room as it appeared installed in Frederick Leland's mansion in London, and how it also appeared in Detroit after Charles Freer purchased the room in 1904 and had it reassembled in his mansion. Letters, postcards, and archival photographs are also available for viewing, as well as more than 300 objets d'art, digitally photographed and enlargeable, which showcase the previous owners' differing tastes in ceramics. For those unable to see the room in person as it appears now in Washington, D.C., this is a great alternative.
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| Korean stoneware with black and white inlays under celadon glaze late 13th - early 14th century, Goryeo Period |
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| detail of above |