William Dickinson (English, 1746-1823)
after Sir Joshua Reynolds (English, 1723-1792)
Mrs. Pelham Feeding Her Chickens
INV-2722
William Dickinson (English, 1746-1823)
after Sir Joshua Reynolds (English, 1723-1792)1775
Mrs. Pelham Feeding Her Chickens
William Dickinson (English, 1746-1823) after Sir Joshua Reynolds (English, 1723-1792) →mezzotintprint
Date
1775
Medium
Mezzotint on cream wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 62 × 38.2 cm (24 7/16 × 15 1/16 in.); Plate: 62.1 × 38.5 cm (24 1/2 × 15 3/16 in.); Sheet: 65.5 × 42.5 cm (25 13/16 × 16 3/4 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
William McCallin McKee Memorial Endowment
Printed after a 1770 Joshua Reynolds painting, this mezzotint features the 1st Baroness of Yarborough, Mrs. Sophia Pelham. Mrs. Pelham wears a workingclass–inspired yet finely embroidered Brunswick dress to feed her chickens before a rustic farmhouse. Such scenes are reminiscent of the 18th-century British fashion for ornamental farms and dairies within elite society, similar to Marie Antoinette’s 1783 Hamlet at Versailles, with its imported Swiss sheep and cows. In fact, Mrs. Pelham had her own ornamental dairy, built in 1779 and outfitted entirely in Wedgwood Queen’s Ware dishes and equipment.
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