Oil paint on canvas
Tate Britain
Tate Collection
Works with images
Works on display
General Collection
Art Fund
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/sir-william-orpen-1725" aria-label="More by Sir William Orpen" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Sir William Orpen</a>
Mirror
Presented by Mrs Coutts Michie through the Art Fund in memory of the George McCulloch Collection 1913
actions: postures and motions
adults
art and craft
artist, painter
arts and entertainment
chair
chandelier
chest of drawers
clothing and personal items
domestic
easel
Eyck, Jan Van, painting, ‘The Arnolfini Portrait’
fine art and design, named works
fine arts and music
flower
furnishings
hat
heating and lighting
individuals: female
interiors
leisure and pastimes
living room
man
mirror
named individuals
natural phenomena
objects
Oppenheim, Dennis
painting
palette
people
picture
plants and flowers
portraits
reflection
Scobel, Emily
self-portraits
shawl
sitting
vase
vessels and containers
woman
work and occupations
<p>The sitter in this portrait is Emily Scoble, a model from the Slade School of Art. Orpen was briefly engaged to her. The room is apparently an accurate portrayal of Orpen’s lodgings, but the shallow pictorial depth and decorative, or ‘aesthetic,’ arrangement of objects is based on Whistler’s famous portrait of his mother in profile. The circular mirror on the wall reflects the artist painting at his easel. This is a device which Orpen borrowed from a 15th-century painting by Jan van Eyck, <span>The Arnolfini Portrait</span>, which he would have seen on display at the National Gallery.</p><p><em>Gallery label, July 2017</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
21 June 2003 – 28 August 2007
2007-08-28
21 June 2003 – 28 August 2007
2007-08-28
2003-06-21
Tate Liverpool (Liverpool, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/
2003-06-21
International Modern Art
Collection based display
3 November 2003 – 19 January 2004
2004-01-19
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2003-11-03
Portraits of Artists
Collection based display
27 January 2005 – 28 August 2005
2005-08-28
1 October 2004 – 31 January 2005
2005-01-31
2004-10-01
Imperial War Museum (London, UK)
http://www.iwm.org.uk/
1 June 2005 – 28 August 2005
2005-08-28
2005-06-01
National Gallery of Ireland (Dublin, Ireland)
http://www.nationalgallery.ie
2005-01-27
Sir William Orpen 1878-1931
Loan-out
16 December 2006 – 18 November 2007
2007-11-18
16 December 2006 – 18 November 2007
2007-11-18
2006-12-16
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2006-12-16
Intimate Interiors
Collection based display
8 February 2011 – 19 February 2011
2011-02-19
8 February 2011 – 19 February 2011
2011-02-19
2011-02-08
Mall Galleries (London, UK)
2011-02-08
Pure Gold
Loan-out
2 October 2017 – 2 April 2018
2018-04-02
2 October 2017 – 2 April 2018
2018-04-02
2017-10-02
National Gallery (London, UK)
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk
2017-10-02
Jan van Eyck and the Pre-Raphaelites
Loan-out
31 October 2022
8 February 2021
2021-02-08
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2022-10-31
Gallery 5A
Collection based display
1 September 2025 – 25 April 2027
2027-04-25
1 September 2025 – 31 December 2025
2025-12-31
2025-09-01
CaixaForum Madrid (Madrid, Spain)
1 February 2026 – 31 May 2026
2026-05-31
2026-02-01
CaixaForum Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain)
http://www3.lacaixa.es
1 August 2026 – 30 November 2026
2026-11-30
2026-08-01
CaixaForum Zaragoza (Saragossa, Spain)
10 December 2026 – 25 April 2027
2027-04-25
2026-12-10
External
2025-09-01
Self Portraits
Loan-out
The Mirror
support: 508 × 406 mm
frame: 682 × 580 × 75 mm
Presented by Mrs Coutts Michie through the <a href="/search?gid=999999968" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Art Fund</a> in memory of the George McCulloch Collection 1913
<div class="text">
<p>The sitter in this portrait is Emily Scoble, a model from the Slade School of Art. Orpen was briefly engaged to her. The room is apparently an accurate portrayal of Orpen’s lodgings, but the shallow pictorial depth and decorative, or ‘aesthetic,’ arrangement of objects is based on Whistler’s famous portrait of his mother in profile. The circular mirror on the wall reflects the artist painting at his easel. This is a device which Orpen borrowed from a 15th-century painting by Jan van Eyck, <i>The Arnolfini Portrait</i>, which he would have seen on display at the National Gallery.</p>
</div>

Online caption
2017-07-07T00:00:00
online-caption
ONLINE_CAPTION
<p><b>N02940</b> THE MIRROR 1900</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Inscr. ‘W Orpen 1900’ b.r.
<br/>Canvas, 20×16 (51×40·5).</p>
<p></p>
<p>Presented by Mrs Coutts Michie through the National Art-Collections Fund in memory of the George McCulloch Collection 1913.
<br/><i>Coll:</i> George McCulloch, sold Christie's, 29 May 1913 (181), bt. Wallis; Mrs Coutts Michie.
<br/><i>Exh:</i> N.E.A.C., winter 1900 (50); <i>George McCulloch Collection</i>, R.A., winter 1909 (270); R.A., <i>Late Members</i>, winter 1933 (34); Birmingham, March–April 1933 (2).
<br/><i>Lit:</i> Konody and Dark, 1932, pp.141–2 and 265, repr. pl.29; John Rothenstein, <i>Modern </i>English Painters: Sickert to Smith, 1952, pp.217–18.
<br/><i>Repr:</i>
<i>N.A.C.F. Report 1913</i>, 1914, facing p.54; Pickle, 1923, pl.3.</p>
<p>The model is Emily Scobel. The artist and another figure are reflected in the mirror.</p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Mary Chamot, Dennis Farr and Martin Butlin, <i>The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture</i>, London 1964, II
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-07-16T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
actions: postures and motions adults art and craft artist, painter arts and entertainment chair chandelier chest of drawers clothing and personal items domestic easel Eyck, Jan Van, painting, ‘The Arnolfini Portrait’ fine art and design, named works fine arts and music flower furnishings hat heating and lighting individuals: female interiors leisure and pastimes living room man mirror named individuals natural phenomena objects Oppenheim, Dennis painting palette people picture plants and flowers portraits reflection Scobel, Emily self-portraits shawl sitting vase vessels and containers woman work and occupations