Physical description
This is an early example of a 'problem picture', in which the subject is rendered in a deliberately ambiguous way to provoke interest and argument among its audience. The arrival of a letter may be as exciting today as then, but the postal system in the 1840s was a novelty - the regular delivery of letters began in 1840 (see cat.no. 78) - and gives the subject of this painting a topical gloss. The lack of clarity in meaning concerns the reason for the 'palpitation' of the title. The woman may be awaiting a letter from an illicit lover, a letter she must intercept before others in the household are aware; the whip hanging on the stag's horns (themselves a traditional symbol of cuckoldry) and the hat on the table indicate a man's presence in the home. Or, the sender may be a legitimate suitor. The suspense is heightened by such details as the phial of smelling salts, the bag, umbrella and glove dropped on the floor, and the emphasis on the lock, chain casing and bolts on the door. Whether guilt, fear, or sheer delight has caused the palpitation, it is well conveyed in the woman's tremulous and febrile pose and facial expression.
Place of Origin
England, Great Britain (painted)
Date
1844 (painted)
Artist/maker
Charles West Cope, born 1811 - died 1890 (artist)
Materials and Techniques
oil on panel
Marks and inscriptions
'C W Cope 1844'
Dimensions
Height: 76.2 cm estimate, Width: 57.8 cm estimate, Height: 94 cm frame, Width: 74.5 cm frame
Object history note
Given by John Sheepshanks, 1857
Descriptive line
Oil painting entitled 'Palpitation' by Charles West Cope. Great Britain, 1844.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Parkinson, R., Victoria and Albert Museum, Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860, London: HMSO, 1990, pp. 45-46
The following is the full text of the entry:
"COPE, Charles West, RA (1811-1890)
Born Leeds, Yorkshire, 28 July 1811, son of Charles Cope, a landscape watercolourist and friend of the collector John Sheepshanks. Briefly at school in London, then Leeds Grammar School. Returned to London 1827 to study at Sass's art school and 1828 at RA Schools. Travelled to Paris 1832 and Italy 1833-5. Exhibited 134 works at the RA between 1833 and 1882, 14 at the BI 1836--43, and one at the SBA 1837. Nearly all his paintings were literary, biblical or historical subjects and domestic genre; the fact that he was Roman Catholic may explain his choice of many of the subjects. Founder member of the Etching Club in about 1840. Awarded one of the three first prizes in the 1843 competition for the new Palace of Westminster decorations with 'An Early Trial by Jury'; travelled again to Italy to study fresco painting before painting several frescos at Westminster. Elected ARA 1843, RA 1848; appointed Professor of Painting at the RA 1867, and examiner in painting for the South Kensington Schools of Art 1870. Visited America and Canada 1876. Died Bournemouth, Hampshire, 21 August 1890.
LIT: Art Journal 1869, ppl77-9; CH Cope Reminiscences of Charles West Cope RA 1891 (referred to below as Reminiscences)
Palpitation
FAS2 Neg 78099
Panel, 76.2 x 57.8 cm (30 x 22¾ ins)
Signed and dated 'C W Cope 1844' on the tablecloth
Sheepshanks Gift 1857
According to the Reminiscences, sold to John Sheepshanks before being exhibited at the RA in 1844. It is described in the Reminiscences as 'a young lady waiting for her letter, while the postman and servant are gossiping on the doorstep', but there is a deliberate ambiguity in the situation depicted which is typical of Cope's work in this genre, an ambiguity that would have been enjoyed by his audience if not by art historians today.
The Athenaeum called Cope 'almost the only man of his day who can be praised as the possessor of an affluent fancy', while the Art Union commented on the subject:
The receipt of letters is at all times a home subject of anxiety to the female bosom. Here, we may presume the little hope indulged under circumstances not uncommon to young ladies ... the extreme anxiety pictured in the girl's countenance enlists the best wishes of the spectator on her side - he shares her solicitude: and this is a good criterion of the excellent of the picture.
It is unclear whether the palpitation of the title is caused by the woman awaiting a letter from her illicit lover which she was hoping to intercept (the whip hanging from the stag's horns and the hat on the table suggest a man already in the household) or from a more legitimate suitor.
Other details in the picture may be significant. The decorative phial of smelling salts (presumably) that she is holding, and the bag, umbrella and glove dropped on the floor, heighten the sensation of suspense. The glove may be a symbol of open self-expression, as well as challenge, as was traditional. On the door, the lock, chain casing, and two bolts attract the viewer's attention. The antlers mounted on the wall may refer to the traditional symbol of fertility or cuckoldry. There is a chalk study (22.2 x 20.4 cm/8 7/8 x 8 1/8 ins), for the principal figure's head in the V&A collections (FA20).
EXH: RA 1844 (264); Victorian Narrative Paintings V&A circulating
exhibition 1961; Victorian Painting Mitsukoshi Gallery, Tokyo, 1967
LIT: Athenaeum 25 May 1844, p483; Art Union 1844, p159; Reminiscences pp165, 378"
Materials
Oil paint; Panel
Techniques
Oil painting
Subjects depicted
Furniture; Clothing; Interiors
Categories
Interiors; Paintings
Collection code
PDP
