| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | The Wapping Landlady |
| Materials and techniques | Oil on canvas |
| Brief description | Francis Hayman (1707/8-1776), Decorative painting for a supper-box at Vauxhall Gardens, London: "The Wapping Landlady, and the Tars Who Are Just Come Ashore". |
| Dimensions | - Canvas height: 990mm
- Canvas width: 1040mm
- Gilt frame height: 1125mm
- Gilt frame width: 1221mm
- Gilt frame depth: 75mm
- Canvas depth: 20mm
- Frame height: 1123mm
- Frame width: 1215mm
- Frame depth: 70mm
Dimensions taken from Summary catalogue of British Paintings, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973 |
| Style | |
| Credit line | |
| Object history | Given by Dr S. A. Henry, 1954 |
| Historical context | This painting is one of seven in the V&A by Francis Hayman which relate to Hayman's work for the Vauxhall Gardens. See 'Historical Context' note on Museum Number P.12-1947 [May Day or The Milkmaid's Garland] for information about Hayman and the Vauxhall Gardens, from Brian Allen, Francis Hayman, Published in association with English Heritage (the Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood) and Yale Center for British Art by Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1987, Page 107-9. |
| Associated objects | |
| Bibliographic references | - Brian Allen, Francis Hayman, Published in association with English Heritage (the Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood) and Yale Center for British Art by Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1987; including the following entries:
Checklist of Paintings, Drawings, Book Illustrations and Prints", pages 171-193:
Decorative Paintings for Vauxhall Gardens, pages 180-182, numbers 171-217:
"The following list consists of the supper box paintings designed by Hayman and others and executed by Hayman with his studio assistants c.1741-2. The later paintings in the Prince of Wales's Pavilion and in the annexe to the Rotunda have been listed under HISTORY PAINTINGS."
Of the 47 works listed by Brian Allen, about 15 survive, of which 7 are in the V&A:
No.173 - [then "Untraced"] Museum number E.879-1994]
No.179 - Museum number P.70-1986
No.191 - Museum number P.13-1947 (Also Allen, cat. no. 33, p.111-112)
No.196 - Museum number P.29-1954
No.200 - Museum number P.69-1986
No.205 - Museum number P.68-1986
No.208 - Museum number P.12-1947 (Also Allen, cat. no. 30, p.109-110)
This painting is no.196
- Lawrence Gowing, 'Hogarth, Hayman, and the Vauxhall Decorations', in The Burlington Magazine, XCV, January 1953, pp.4-19.
DECORATIONS RECORDED AT THE GARDENS
A. The Supper Boxes
"... The Grove is bounded by gravel walks, and a considerable number of pavilions or alcoves, ornamented with paintings from the designs of Mr Hayman and Mr. Hogarth, on subjects admirably adapted to the place..." (The Ambulator, 1774, p.181)*.
These alcoves, the supper boxes, extended along the north side of the Grove, the east and the south, from which a further short row ran southward. The boxes and their decorations are listed in... The Ambulator in this order; the same order, and the titles given by The Ambulator will be followed here.
* The Ambulator; or, the Stranger's Companion in a tour Round London... comprehending Catalogues of the Pictures by Eminent Artists. London (Bew) [1774], p.180 ff., [2nd edition, 1782], p.193 ff. One of many lists of the pictures, printed in guides. This is the fullest of these guides.
[From section 2 of 5 areas of Vauxhall described by Gowing following The Ambulator]
[The "fragment" in the collection of "Dr Henry" referred to by Gowing was acquired by the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1954, Museum number P.29-1954, gift of Dr. S.A. Henry].
" ' Returning to the grove where we shall find the remainder of the boxes and paintings better than those heretofore seen... the pavilions are decorated with the following pictures':"
"29 '7. The Wapping landlady, and the tars who are just come ashore' (Fig. 24.)
Engr... 'F. Hayman pinx. Benoist sculp. 4th April 1743'...
The verse of the song of 'the shepherd Colin' (1741) referring to subjects of pictures at Vauxhall is as follows:-
'The King, there, dubs a Farmer,
There John his Doxy loves:
But my Delight's a Charmer
Who steals a pair of Gloves' (Lockman, Sketch)
The second picture described [There John his Doxy loves] is said to be 29 though it would be hard to be certain of the identification. A fragment of the picture showing two seated figures from the right-hand part was in a London sale in 1949; it is now in the collection of Dr Henry. The fragment suffers only from slight rubbing, and recent retouching, particularly in the heads; the edge of the central figure has been painted out. It is clearly entirely by Hayman...."
- Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings Accessions 1954 London: HMSO, 1963
- 96
Susan Doran, ed. Royal River. Power Pageantry& the Thames London, Greenwich Museum, 2012, cat.96, p. 143.
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