The Enchantment of Bottom by Titania

Harry Clarke , Irish, 1889-1931

Title

Date1922

MediumStained glass panel in a wooden cabinet

Dimensions

Plate: 17 × 29.8 cm

27 × 38.1 × 31 cm

Signedlower right; Harry Clarke 1922

Credit LinePurchased, with the support of the Friends of the National Gallery of Ireland (Patrons of Irish Art Funds), 2023

Object numberNGI.2024.3

DescriptionThis stained glass panel depicts a scene from Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In an enchanted forest, characters from the supernatural and mortal realms collide. A mischievous sprite, Puck, has turned Nick Bottom into a Donkey. Meanwhile, Oberon, King of the Fairies, has cast a spell on Fairy Queen Titania: she will fall in love with the first creature she sees. Harry Clarke has imagined the scene before the spells are broken. Bottom and Titania recline by a stream, while the fairy attendants dance in the background. Intricate botanical details and jewel-like colours decorate and illuminate the composition. Clarke produced several miniature panels inspired by literature, made for domestic settings. In these works, he adapts his talent for book illustration to the medium of stained glass. Two sheets of glass, each acid-etched and stained, are layered to achieve a range of hues. The panel is set in a bespoke cabinet made by James Hicks.
ProvenanceCollection of Sir Robert Woods and thence by family descent; Sale: Sotheby's, London, The Irish Sale, 22 May 1997, lot 273, where acquired by Ann and Gordon Getty); Sale: Christie's, New York, The Ann and Gordon Getty Collection, 15 June 2023, lot 486, where acquired by the previous owner, Purchased, with the support of the Friends of the National Gallery of Ireland (Patrons of Irish Art Funds), 2023Exhibition HistoryHarry Clarke, The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College Dublin, 12 November - 08 December 1979