signed and dated 'Reginald Arthur/1892' (lower right)oil on canvas Unframed: 49 x 23.3 cm. (19 1/4 x 9 1/4 in.) Framed: 68 x 42.3 cm. (26 3/4 x 16 3/4 in.)Provenance:Private Collection, London.Notes:Painted in 1892, the present work was completed the same year as Arthur's monumental Death of Cleopatra 'The Stroke of Death etc', exhibited at the Royal Academy that year. Arthur lived at 47 Bedford Square, a stone's throw from the British Museum, where he no doubt went to look for inspiration and ensure the historical accuracy of his classical compositions. Depictions of women carrying vases of wine and water appeared often in the late Victorian period; artists such as John William Godward,1 John William Waterhouse,2 and Lord Frederic Leighton would often include them in their classical scenes, the latter artist featuring vessels in 'Captive Andromache' as objects in their own right.3 References:1 'At the Fountain', oil on canvas. Sale; Christie's, New York, 13 October 2021, lot 272 'The Danides', oil on canvas. Private Collection3 I. Jenkins, 'Frederick Lord Leighton and Greek vases', in The Burlington Magazine, October 1983, p. 597-605