Rinck, Jonathan. “Pewabic Pottery Among the Peacocks: The Partnership of Charles Lang Freer and Mary Chase Perry-Stratton.” Ceramics: Art & Perception no. 91 (March 2013): 62-64.
Abstract: The peacock room is one of the most well-known products of the 19th century aesthetic movement, perhaps largely because of the story of its creation. American artist James McNeil Whistler painted the room in 1876-1877 which, at the time, belonged to the London home of Frederick Leyland. Although he was only supposed to retouch a botched paint job by a previous artist, Whistler famously gave the room a complete makeover while Leyland was away. Upon his return, Leyland was mortified and fired Whistler, but this did not stop the tenacious Whistler from returning and adding the now famous peacocks on the wall. In 1904, the room (and the Whistler paintings it contained) was acquired by Charles Freer and brought to the US, where it eventually became the centrepiece of the Freer Art Gallery. Freer purchased the room specifically to display his collection of Asian pottery. But Freer also used the room to display the ceramic pottery of Mary Chase Perry- Stratton (1867-1961). In fact, Perry-Stratton’s ceramics were the only works by a contemporary artist that Freer ever displayed in the room. Although the Peacock room is mostly associated with Whistler, Perry-Stratton’s ceramics once assumed a visibly robust presence in their own right.
