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The Dame School thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level H , Case WD, Shelf 11

The Dame School

Watercolour
1790-1810 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The Education Act of 1870 was the first measure in Britain aimed at providing a universal state system of infant schools. Before that time many children, especially those from poorer families, learned the rudiments of literacy in Dame Schools, so-called because they were run by single often elderly women. In Cruickshank's sketch the teacher is listening to a child reading aloud, so clearly her pupils are learning something; often critics dismissed the Dame Schools as no more than a child-minding service for parents who were working. As is evident from the details here the schoolroom was the old woman's kitchen. The warm domesticity of the scene is undercut by the sight of the bundle of birch twigs on the table - this would have been used by the teacher to beat a slow or difficult child.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleThe Dame School (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Watercolour on paper
Brief description
Watercolour, 'The Dame School', by Isaac Cruikshank, ca. 1790-1810.
Physical description
The Education Act of 1870 was the first measure in Britain aimed at providing a universal state system of infant schools. Before that time many children, especially those from poorer families, learned the rudiments of literacy in Dame Schools, so-called because they were run by single often elderly women. In Cruickshank's sketch the teacher is listening to a child reading aloud, so clearly her pupils are learning something; often critics dismissed the Dame Schools as no more than a child-minding service for parents who were working. As is evident from the details here the schoolroom was the old woman's kitchen. The warm domesticity of the scene is undercut by the sight of the bundle of birch twigs on the table - this would have been used by the teacher to beat a slow or difficult child.
Dimensions
  • Framed height: 25cm
  • Framed width: 30cm
  • Image height: 7in
  • Image width: 9.25in
Dimensions taken from departmental notes
Subjects depicted
Collection
Accession number
144-1890

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Record createdDecember 15, 1999
Record URL
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