Fumée d'Ambre Gris (Smoke of Ambergris)
John Singer Sargent, 1880
For now, just to look at
The photograph we have of this work is not sharp enough to print at the quality we want, so we are not selling it for now. We are looking for a better one.
About the work
- Artist
- John Singer Sargent
- Date
- 1880
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Collection
- Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts (accession no. 1955.15)
- Reference
- XDV-2826
What the museum label doesn't tell you
The ambergris burning in the scene—a waxy substance from the digestive tract of the sperm whale, highly prized in perfumery—is never explicitly shown in the painting: only the title reveals what is being burned in the brazier.
