- Title:
- "Midst the tide, Two angel forms were seen to glide..." (Design 7)
- Additional Title(s):
Verso: "Demurest of the tabby kind, The pensive Selima reclin'd..." (Design 8)
Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat- Part Of:
- Date:
- between 1797 and 1798
- Materials & Techniques:
- Watercolor with pen and black ink and graphite on moderately thick, slightly textured, cream wove paper with inlaid letterpress page
- Dimensions:
- Sheet: 16 1/2 x 12 3/4 inches (41.9 x 32.4 cm)
- Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:
Inscribed in gray ink upper right: "1"; on verso in black ink upper left: "2"; in gray ink center: "Ode on the Death of | a Favourite Cat | Design. | 1. 'Midst the tide | Two Angel forms were seen to glide' | 2. 'Demurest of the Tabby Kind.' | 3 'The pensive Selima | Her Ears of Jet & Emrald Eyes | She saw & purr'd applause' | 4. 'Still had she gazd but midst the tide | Two angel forms were seen to glide | The hapless nymph with wonder saw | A Whisker first & then a Claw &c ' | 5. Malignant Fate sat by & smild | The slippery verge her feet beguild | She tumbled headlong in' | 6. 'Nine times emerging from the flood | 'She mew'd to every watry God' "
Lettered on inlaid page: "ODE | On the Death of a | FAVORITE CAT | Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes. | D3"
- Credit Line:
- Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
- Copyright Status:
- Public Domain
- Accession Number:
- B1992.8.11(4)
- Classification:
- Drawings & Watercolors
- Collection:
- Prints and Drawings
- Subject Terms:
- cat (domestic cat) | corset | fish | literary theme | religious and mythological subject | scales | text | water
- Access:
- Accessible by appointment in the Study Room [Request]
Note: The Study Room is open by appointment. Please visit the Study Room page on our website for more details. - Link:
- https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:3661
- Export:
- XML
- IIIF Manifest:
- JSON
William Blake (Tate Britain, 2000-11-02 - 2001-02-04) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
The Human Form Divine - William Blake from the Paul Mellon Collection (Yale Center for British Art, 1997-04-02 - 1997-07-06) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]
Colin Cross, Blake revealed, William Blake : Discovery of a Masterwork , Observer, vol. 12, November 21, 1971, pp. 19-23, 25, V 1245 Detached from Observer colour magazine [ORBIS]
Andrew Loukes, William Blake in Sussex: Visions of Albion, Petworth House, London, p. 13, fig. 4, NJ18.B57 A12 2018 (LC) (YCBA) [YCBA]
John Russell, Blake the Craftsman, Art , Sunday Times, Issue no. 7749, December 12, 1971, p. 27, Sunday Times Digital Archive [ORBIS]
Arnold Fawcus, Unknown Watercolours by William Blake, Illustrated London News, vol. 259, No. 6881, December 25, 1971, pp. 45-46, 49-51, Illustrated London News Historical Archive [ORBIS]
Arnold Fawcus, William Blake's Watercolour Designs Illustrating Gray's Poems - and Mr. Paul Mellon, Connoisseur, vol. 179,no. 719, January 1972, pp. 11, 12, unnum color pl, N1 C75 + (YCBA) Another copy inckuded in Vertical File Collection : V 2335 [YCBA]