The Butt: Shooting a Cherry
Oil Painting
1822-1848 (painted), 1848 (exhibited)
1822-1848 (painted), 1848 (exhibited)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
Oil paintings with sentimental scenes of children in the countryside became popular with collectors such as John Sheepshanks and the Reverend Chauncy Hare Townshend, as well as with the Victorian public in general.
Subjects Depicted
Mulready had started this scene of a crude childhood game as early as 1822 but he had abandoned it unfinished. He was persuaded by John Linnell to resume work, and it was finally exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1848. Although the technique was much admired, some reviewers thought the subject unworthy of such painterly skill in colour and effect. Mulready's subject matter was frequently criticised as being too low-life or even violent, the disturbing and realistic scenes of children bullying others were too contrary to the current idyllic view of childhood innocence.
People
William Mulready (1786-1863) had four sons of whom he had custody after a bitter separation from his wife, Elizabeth Varley. She was the sister of John Varley, Mulready's first teacher, who remained a lifelong friend in spite of this misfortune. It is evident he used scenes from their childhood and his own as subject matter for some of his paintings.
Oil paintings with sentimental scenes of children in the countryside became popular with collectors such as John Sheepshanks and the Reverend Chauncy Hare Townshend, as well as with the Victorian public in general.
Subjects Depicted
Mulready had started this scene of a crude childhood game as early as 1822 but he had abandoned it unfinished. He was persuaded by John Linnell to resume work, and it was finally exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1848. Although the technique was much admired, some reviewers thought the subject unworthy of such painterly skill in colour and effect. Mulready's subject matter was frequently criticised as being too low-life or even violent, the disturbing and realistic scenes of children bullying others were too contrary to the current idyllic view of childhood innocence.
People
William Mulready (1786-1863) had four sons of whom he had custody after a bitter separation from his wife, Elizabeth Varley. She was the sister of John Varley, Mulready's first teacher, who remained a lifelong friend in spite of this misfortune. It is evident he used scenes from their childhood and his own as subject matter for some of his paintings.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | The Butt: Shooting a Cherry (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | oil on canvas |
| Brief description | Oil painting on lined canvas entitled 'The Butt: Shooting a Cherry' by William Mulready. Great Britain, exhibited at the Royal Academy 1848. |
| Physical description | Mulready was at the height of his success in the 1840s: one critic, in the New Monthly Magazine, said this picture was 'one of the gems of the exhibition. If you see a very pretty little picture, with a very large crowd assembled to see it, you may be pretty sure it is by Mulready'. The artist's bright and precise technique appealed very much to contemporary taste, as did the charm of his subject-matter, both qualities very much in evidence here. Two errand boys have met: one, a laundry-boy sitting on a basket of linen, has acquired from the Roma girls a cabbage-leaf full of black cherries, which he is now trying to lob into his friend's mouth. The butcher-boy's face is stained with the fruits that have missed, his dog watches with interest, and the accuracy - and humour - of expression provoke comparison between Mulready and such great masters of Dutch seventeenth-century genre as Teniers and Steen. Oil on lined canvas |
| Dimensions |
|
| Style | |
| Gallery label |
|
| Credit line | Given by John Sheepshanks, 1857 |
| Object history | Given by John Sheepshanks, 1857. By William Mulready RA (born in Ennis, County Clare, Ireland, 1786, died in London, 1863) Exhibited at the Royal Academy 1848 |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Object Type Oil paintings with sentimental scenes of children in the countryside became popular with collectors such as John Sheepshanks and the Reverend Chauncy Hare Townshend, as well as with the Victorian public in general. Subjects Depicted Mulready had started this scene of a crude childhood game as early as 1822 but he had abandoned it unfinished. He was persuaded by John Linnell to resume work, and it was finally exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1848. Although the technique was much admired, some reviewers thought the subject unworthy of such painterly skill in colour and effect. Mulready's subject matter was frequently criticised as being too low-life or even violent, the disturbing and realistic scenes of children bullying others were too contrary to the current idyllic view of childhood innocence. People William Mulready (1786-1863) had four sons of whom he had custody after a bitter separation from his wife, Elizabeth Varley. She was the sister of John Varley, Mulready's first teacher, who remained a lifelong friend in spite of this misfortune. It is evident he used scenes from their childhood and his own as subject matter for some of his paintings. |
| Bibliographic reference | Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860, Ronald Parkinson, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1990, pp. 206-207 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | FA.148[O] |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | December 15, 1999 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest
