May Day in the Olden Time thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, room WS , Case R, Shelf 92, Box R

May Day in the Olden Time

Panel
1867 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Watercolour on panel. Central panel of a triptych watercolour painting depicting 16th century May Day celebrations.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleMay Day in the Olden Time (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Watercolour on panel
Brief description
Central panel of a triptych watercolour painting by Henry Stacy Marks entitled 'May Day in the Olden Time', Great Britain, 1867
Physical description
Watercolour on panel. Central panel of a triptych watercolour painting depicting 16th century May Day celebrations.
Dimensions
  • Height: 20.875in
  • Width: 41.75in
Dimensions taken from departmental notes
Subjects depicted
Associated object
321A-1872 (Copy)
Bibliographic reference
In 1868 Henry Stacy Marks offered his watercolour of a 16th-century May Day procession for use in decorating the interiors of the Museum, and Henry Cole, the Director, chose it as the design for the three porcelain panels on the buffet of what is now the 'Morris Room'. Originally designed and made for the Green Dining Room in the Victoria and Albert Museum, it was one of the first public refreshment rooms in any museum. The buffet was not functional but was designed as a piece of decorative furniture, with a May Day theme, echoing the painted panels showing the months of the year, which decorated the walls of the Dining Room. These were painted by a female student in the porcelain class of the South Kensington Art School, now the Royal College of Art, and incorporated into the buffet, made by Gillow & Co., a prominent firm of cabinet-makers.
Collection
Accession number
FA.677

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
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