Country Dances Round a Maypole
Oil Painting
1741-1742 (made)
1741-1742 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
This painting was one of 50 supper box pictures at Spring Gardens, Vauxhall. They each formed the back of one `arbour' or supper box, an ornate wooden shelter formed of two side walls and a roof, framing picturesque views through the Gardens, where guests could take supper. At a certain moment in the evening's entertainment, the paintings were `let fall' to enclose the diners at the back. The front was left permanently open for the fashionable occupants to view and be viewed.
Subjects Depicted
One of the May Day customs that Francis Hayman illustrated was dancing round the May Pole. This custom still persists, although the days when it was a welcome sight on most village greens have long gone. The Puritans perceived it as an immoral activity and literally tried to cut down May Poles in many places. Nowadays May Pole dancing is regarded as a harmless activity for children, in the same tradition as Morris dancing. The painting's theme of pleasure was in keeping with the spirit of carnival at Spring Gardens in Vauxhall. Here, however, it is depicted with an emphasis on refinement rather than bawdiness.
People
Francis Hayman began as a scene painter, then turned to portraiture. His first major decorative commission consisted of these large paintings at Spring Gardens, Vauxhall. The commission came from Hayman's patron, the entrepreneur Jonathan Tyers (died 1767), who held the lease on Spring Gardens and was responsible for opening them to the public in 1732.
This painting was one of 50 supper box pictures at Spring Gardens, Vauxhall. They each formed the back of one `arbour' or supper box, an ornate wooden shelter formed of two side walls and a roof, framing picturesque views through the Gardens, where guests could take supper. At a certain moment in the evening's entertainment, the paintings were `let fall' to enclose the diners at the back. The front was left permanently open for the fashionable occupants to view and be viewed.
Subjects Depicted
One of the May Day customs that Francis Hayman illustrated was dancing round the May Pole. This custom still persists, although the days when it was a welcome sight on most village greens have long gone. The Puritans perceived it as an immoral activity and literally tried to cut down May Poles in many places. Nowadays May Pole dancing is regarded as a harmless activity for children, in the same tradition as Morris dancing. The painting's theme of pleasure was in keeping with the spirit of carnival at Spring Gardens in Vauxhall. Here, however, it is depicted with an emphasis on refinement rather than bawdiness.
People
Francis Hayman began as a scene painter, then turned to portraiture. His first major decorative commission consisted of these large paintings at Spring Gardens, Vauxhall. The commission came from Hayman's patron, the entrepreneur Jonathan Tyers (died 1767), who held the lease on Spring Gardens and was responsible for opening them to the public in 1732.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Country Dances Round a Maypole (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | oil on canvas |
| Brief description | Francis Hayman (1707/8-1776), Decorative painting for a supper-box at Vauxhall Gardens, London: "Country Dancers Round a Maypole" |
| Physical description | Oil painting |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Gallery label | British Galleries:
Supper boxes, rather like boxes at the theatre, provided private space for visitors. The paintings of rustic amusements and children's games were in keeping with the music and dancing that the Gardens offered. The use of them at Vauxhall was a novelty, bringing the refinement of art to a place of popular entertainment.(27/03/2003) |
| Object history | Purchased, 1986 Probably Vauxhall sale by Ventom and Hughes, 12 October 1841 (lot 195, 'Merry making' with numerous figures by Hayman...) evidently bought by F. Gye, whose initials appear on the back of the canvas. Fredrick Gye; Christie's, 9 July 1859 (lot 103). W. H. Forman; Sotheby's, 27 June 1899 (lot 85, as by Hogarth, unsold) and thence by descent to Major A.S.C. Brown; Christie's, 21 November 1986 (lot 67). |
| 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. |
| Summary | Object Type This painting was one of 50 supper box pictures at Spring Gardens, Vauxhall. They each formed the back of one `arbour' or supper box, an ornate wooden shelter formed of two side walls and a roof, framing picturesque views through the Gardens, where guests could take supper. At a certain moment in the evening's entertainment, the paintings were `let fall' to enclose the diners at the back. The front was left permanently open for the fashionable occupants to view and be viewed. Subjects Depicted One of the May Day customs that Francis Hayman illustrated was dancing round the May Pole. This custom still persists, although the days when it was a welcome sight on most village greens have long gone. The Puritans perceived it as an immoral activity and literally tried to cut down May Poles in many places. Nowadays May Pole dancing is regarded as a harmless activity for children, in the same tradition as Morris dancing. The painting's theme of pleasure was in keeping with the spirit of carnival at Spring Gardens in Vauxhall. Here, however, it is depicted with an emphasis on refinement rather than bawdiness. People Francis Hayman began as a scene painter, then turned to portraiture. His first major decorative commission consisted of these large paintings at Spring Gardens, Vauxhall. The commission came from Hayman's patron, the entrepreneur Jonathan Tyers (died 1767), who held the lease on Spring Gardens and was responsible for opening them to the public in 1732. |
| Associated objects | |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | P.70-1986 |
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| Record created | March 27, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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