The Stray Kitten thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

The Stray Kitten

Painting
1835 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

William Collins (1788-1847) trained in London at the Royal Academy of Arts and went on to become a popular painter of landscapes and rustic genre scenes. He was particularly fond of representing children. The combination of his fine technique and the pathos of the subject in this painting appealed to a wide public, connoisseurs and amateurs alike. This version is a replica of a painting commissioned by a Mr Holden and exhibited in London at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1833. The print subsequently made after this painting was very popular, combining as it does a pretty rural setting with a sentimental subject. An appreciative biography of Collins (published in 1848) was written by his son, the novelist Wilkie Collins.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleThe Stray Kitten (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
oil on panel
Brief description
Oil painting entitled 'The Stray Kitten' by William Collins. Great Britain, 1835.
Physical description
Oil on panel entitled 'The Stray Kitten' depicting a group of children and a woman attempting to coax a kitten towards a large bowl of milk.
Dimensions
  • Estimate height: 45.7cm
  • Estimate width: 61cm
Dimensions taken from Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860, Ronald Parkinson, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1990
Styles
Marks and inscriptions
'W Collins 1835' (Signed and dated by the artist, lower right)
Credit line
Given by John Sheepshanks, 1857
Object history
Given by John Sheepshanks, 1857
Subjects depicted
Summary
William Collins (1788-1847) trained in London at the Royal Academy of Arts and went on to become a popular painter of landscapes and rustic genre scenes. He was particularly fond of representing children. The combination of his fine technique and the pathos of the subject in this painting appealed to a wide public, connoisseurs and amateurs alike. This version is a replica of a painting commissioned by a Mr Holden and exhibited in London at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1833. The print subsequently made after this painting was very popular, combining as it does a pretty rural setting with a sentimental subject. An appreciative biography of Collins (published in 1848) was written by his son, the novelist Wilkie Collins.
Bibliographic reference
Parkinson, R., Victoria and Albert Museum, Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860, London: HMSO, 1990, p. 37
Collection
Accession number
FA.29[O]

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Record createdFebruary 28, 2001
Record URL
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