The Young Mother
Ford Madox Brown (Calais 1821 - London 1893)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1848 - 1849 - 1851 (exh BI)
Materials
Oil on panel
Measurements
214 x 310 mm
Order this imageCollection
Wightwick Manor, West Midlands
NT 1288938
Caption
This picture is possibly that exhibited at the British Institution in 1851, entitled ‘The Young Mother’, or an oil sketch, ‘The Infant’s Repast’, sold for £5 in 1852 to Edward Stanley, referred to by the artist as “some scoundrel at Bristol”. According to Madox Brown's diary, the models were Mrs Ashley and her child, who sat for two chalk studies (now in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery collection) on 13th October 1848. The painting reflects Madox Brown's sensitivity to the bond between mother and child. His first child, Lucy, was born in 1843, but her mother, Elizabeth Bromley, died in 1845. It was the subject of a number of works during this period, including ‘The Pretty Baa-Lambs’, begun in 1851 (Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery).
Summary
Oil painting on panel, The Young Mother by Ford Madox Brown (Calais 1821 – London 1893), 1848-49. A young mother, Mrs Asley is seated full length, wearing a striped blouse and feeding her baby; a spaniel sits beside her; on the wall is a convex mirror.
Full description
Oil painting on panel, The Young Mother by Ford Madox Brown (Calais 1821 – London 1893), 1848-49. An oil sketch and a finished picture were painted in 1848-9. Madox Brown variously titled them The Young Mother, Mother and Child, and The Infant's Repast. The Young Mother was exhibited at the British Institution in 1851. This picture may actually be the oil sketch The Infant's Repast sold for £5 in 1852 to Edward Stanley, referred to by Brown as "some scoundrel at Bristol". According to Madox Brown's diary the models were Mrs Ashley and her child, who sat for two chalk studies (now in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery collection) on 13th October 1848. The sensitivity of the painting probably reflects Madox Brown's feelings about the relationship between mother and baby; his first child, Lucy, was born in 1843, but her mother Elizabeth Bromley died in 1845. It was the subject of a number of his works at this period, including 'The Pretty Baa-Lambs' begun in 1851 (Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery). As in that picture the young mother is in 18th century costume. (adapted from author's unpublished property catalogue, Stephen Ponder, Wightwick Manor, circa 1995)
Provenance
Possibly sold for £5 in 1852 to Edward Stanley [referred to by the artist as "some scoundrel at Bristol] as 'The Infant's Repast'; [...]; Helen Maria Rossetti Angeli, on loan to Wightwick Manor; purchased by Sir Geoffrey at Sotheby's March 1960 for £34; transferred to the National Trust on the death of Sir Geoffrey Le Mesurier Mander (1882-1962)
Marks and inscriptions
Label on back is inscribed with the title and artist's name and address (High St.,Hampstead)
Makers and roles
Ford Madox Brown (Calais 1821 - London 1893)
Exhibition history
Ford Madox Brown: Pre-Raphaelite Pioneer , Manchester Art Gallery, 2011 - 2012
References
Hueffer 1896 Ford Madox Hueffer, Ford Madox Brown: A Record of His Life and Work, 1896, pp.84, 435 Rossetti 1900 W.M. Rossetti Pre-Raphaelite Diaries and Letter's 1900, pp.96, 98, 100, 101,112 Surtees 1981 Virginia Surtees (ed.) The Diary of Ford Madox Brown, 1981 , ill. pl. 5 Newman and Watkinson 1991 Theresa Newman and Ray Watkinson Ford Madox Brown and the Pre-Raphaelite Circle, 1991 , pp 37, 45, 50, 61, ill. no. 5 Wildman 1995 Stephen Wildman Visions of Love and Life: Pre-Raphaelite Art from the Birmingham Collection, England (Art Services International, Virginia exhibition catalogue) 1995, p 88, ill. Fig. 22