The Christmas Stratagem: Under the Mistletoe, right quarter

This painting was completed for Century Magazine in 1910 for their “American Artists” series. We are fortunate that the magazine published the full image of the painting as a photo, because it no longer exists intact.  The interesting reason only a portion of the original painting still exists is told by John Alfred Parsons Millet, son of Frank and Lily in his journal, still in the family’s possession.

Following Frank’s death, Lily assisted by John,  were cleaning out the Russell House in England.  As they were going through a number of paintings and drawings, most of which seem to have been unframed and loose.  This painting came up and Lily expressed how much she had always disliked it.  John does not record directly why she disliked it so much but, she asked John for a pair of sissors and when he gave them to her she promptly cut it up leaving only the right quarter intact and she threw the rest of the painting in the fireplace to be burned.  John indicates that he rescued the remaining portion since he actually liked the painting very much and was completely taken by surprise as his mother cut it up.

A few items appearing in the painting are items seen in other works.  The clock is seen on the wall in “Between Two Fires,” and the tankard on the table is shown on the sideboard in “The Widow.”  The tankard is still in the Millet family. Finally, we know the original work was painted in the Abbot’s Grange studio, since the windows behind the Puritan man are still seen today in the Grange building.