The Rival Performers
Oil Painting
1839 (painted)
1839 (painted)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Some critics interpreted the subject as a young woman silencing her companion’s oboe to listen to the caged bird. Others read it as the bird out-performing the musician. The figures are wearing 17th-century costume and are set in the dining room of Haddon Hall, Derbyshire, which Horsley first visited in 1835.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | The Rival Performers (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Oil on panel |
| Brief description | Oil painting entitled 'The Rival Performers' by John Callcott Horsley. Great Britain, 1839. |
| Physical description | Oil painting entitled 'The Rival Performers' depicting a young couple seated in a window of a wood panelled room. The boy is holding an oboe, poised to play, whilst the girl clasps his wrist, looking up at a canary on a perch in front of them. There is a lute leaning against the wall beneath the bird, and a small pair of scissors and a flower on the floor by the feet of the seated girl. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | 'J C Horsley/PINXIT/1839' (Signed and dated by the artist on music sheet, lower right) |
| Credit line | Given by John Sheepshanks, 1857 |
| Object history | Given by John Sheepshanks, 1857 |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Place depicted | |
| Summary | Some critics interpreted the subject as a young woman silencing her companion’s oboe to listen to the caged bird. Others read it as the bird out-performing the musician. The figures are wearing 17th-century costume and are set in the dining room of Haddon Hall, Derbyshire, which Horsley first visited in 1835. |
| Bibliographic reference | Parkinson, R., Victoria and Albert Museum, Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860, London: HMSO, 1990, pp. 129-30 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | FA.83[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 Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis.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 | June 19, 2003 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest
