About this artwork

Festive Occasion is painted on what was probably a dry food container, perhaps originally made for tea or biscuits. It was begun as a depiction of the Last Supper, but the apparently drunken nature of the scene led McCance to retitle it. Festive Occasion is written in pencil inside the container. There are fourteen figures (plus a waiter delivering drinks in the background), whereas a Last Supper involves twelve disciples and Christ.

Updated before 2020

  • artist:
    William McCance (1894 - 1970) Scottish
  • title:
    Festive Occasion
  • date created:
    1924
  • materials:
    Oil on cylindrical wooden container with metal fastenings
  • measurements:
    24.00 cm (height); 21.40 cm (diameter)
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Purchased 2013
  • accession number:
    GMA 5381
  • gallery:
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William McCance

William McCance