Corkscrew Hanging on a Nail

John Singleton Copley (American, 1738–1815)

late 1760s

Medium/TechniqueOil on panel

Dimensions13.65 x 14.29 x 2.22 cm (5 3/8 x 5 5/8 x 7/8 in.)

Credit LineBequest of Ogden Codman

Accession number1970.223

On View

On view

ClassificationsPaintings

Collections

Americas

Description

Copley was much admired for his ability to depict material goods—rich velvets and satins, soft fur, and delicate lace. Although his portraits often included accessories such as fruit, flowers, or even a teapot, no independent still lifes survive except Corkscrew Hanging on a Nail. This small painting was cut from a doorframe in the Codman House in Lincoln, Massachusetts. In the late 1760s, Copley had been commissioned to paint a portrait of Dr. Charles Russell, a Codman relation by marriage and then the owner of the house. According to family tradition, on a visit to the sitter when wine was offered but no corkscrew was to be found, Copley responded by painting the missing implement on the wall. Rendered with Copley’s customary careful attention to detail, the illusionistic corkscrew, complete with painted shadow, appears to hang casually from a nail.

Karen E. Quinn

ProvenanceLate 1760s, Dr. Charles Russell (1738-1780), Lincoln, Mass. (painted on the library door of his house in Lincoln, Mass., now the Codman House); 1781, to his brother, Chambers Russell (1755-1790); 1790, by descent to his nephew, Charles Russell Codman; about 1790, to John Codman, Jr. (1755-1803), [1] husband of Margaret Russell Codman (1757-1789), who was the youngest sister of Charles and Chambers Russell; 1803, by descent to his son, Charles Russell Codman (b. 1784); 1807, sold by Charles Russell Codman to Charles De Wolf; 1812, sold to Andrew Homer; 1816, sold to James Percival; 1835, sold to Constant F. Minns; 1862, sold to Ogden Codman (died 1904); 1904, by descent to his son, Ogden Codman, Jr. (1863-1951); by descent to his sister, Dorothy Codman (died 1968); 1970, bequest of Ogden Codman, Jr. to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 11, 1970)

[1] The estate of Chambers Russell was insufficient to meet the legacies of his will without selling the Lincoln house; John Codman, Jr. decided to pay the legacies himself, and then became owner of the house.