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| Accession # | 24.72 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Raphaelle Peale |
| Title | Still Life with Cake |
| Date | 1822 |
| Medium | Oil on panel |
| Dimensions | 9 1/2 x 11 5/16 in. (24.1 x 28.7 cm) frame: 15 5/8 x 17 7/16 x 2 3/4 in. (39.7 x 44.3 x 7 cm) |
| Signed | Signed lower right: "Raphaelle Peale Jany: 1st. 1822" |
| Credit Line | Museum Collection Fund |
| Location | American Identities: Colony to Nation / Inventing American Landscape |
Curatorial Remarks: A Poor Man’s Still Lifes
With a few objects arranged on a ledge before an indistinct background, Raphaelle Peale’s paintings suggest a restraint that perhaps reflects the impoverished circumstances of the artist’s life. Still Life with Cake portrays only a blemished apple, raisins, and a “poor man’s pound cake,” usually made from leftover dough, to which sugar or nutmeg would be added. In Still Life with Peaches, the relatively expensive dessert bowl adds refinement to the composition, but in all likelihood, Peale did not own it.
