Tailpiece for The Mysterious Chest
Date1908
Artist
Howard Pyle
(American illustrator, 1853–1911)
Illustration Citation"The Mysterious Chest," by Howard Pyle, in Harper's Monthly Magazine, December 1908
MediumOil on coated panel
Dimensionssheet: 18 5/16 × 12 3/16 in. (46.5 × 31 cm)
Credit LineGift of Daniel Anderson, 1990
Object number1990-32
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPAINTING
Label TextEarly in his career, Howard Pyle could not decide whether to become a writer or an illustrator. Ultimately, as stories such as this show, he became both. This story revolves around a locked cedar chest addressed to Remo delivered on a British ship to New York City in 1793. Pyle describes the character who presents the mysterious cargo: he "exhibited a lean, cadaverous face with sunken eyes...(with) extremely large ears standing out like wings.".
