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Hunt the Whistle - design for one of a series of paintings for the Supper Boxes at Vauxhall Gardens

Maker

(artist)
1708-1776

Formerly attributed to
(artist)
1692-1780

Title

Hunt the Whistle - design for one of a series of paintings for the Supper Boxes at Vauxhall Gardens

Date of Production

1730 - 1740

Medium

graphite, pen and brown ink, brown and grey wash on laid paper, with brown ink framing lines, squared in graphite

Dimensions

Height: 19.3 cm
Width: 27.4 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.1469

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords








Related Works

'The Discovery', or 'The Ideal Husband' (preparatory drawing for the decorations at Vauxhall Gardens?)

Label Text

Hayman made a number of drawings like this as part of the preparations for the production of over fifty large (roughly 4'6" x 6'6") paintings on canvas to decorate the supper boxes in the pleasure gardens at Vauxhall. The paintings were carried out by many different artists, possibly two or more working on a single canvas, so Hayman's control of the project through design drawings such as this was vital. The squares drawn in pencil over the image enabled the scene to be enlarged easily; the figures were to be 3'1" high according to the inscription.

Provenance

E. Parsons & Sons (London); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, n.d. (£3.25); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Rococo: art and design in Hogarth's England, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 16/05/1984-30/09/1984

Paintings, drawings and prints by Francis Hayman, R.A. 1708-1776, Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood, 1960

Three Exeter artists of the eighteenth century : Francis Hayman, Francis Towne, John White Abbott. Catalogue of loan exhibition by arrangement with the Arts Council of Great Britain, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, 08/05/1951-22/09/1951 ...More

Caricatures et Moeurs Anglaises, Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Paris and Bordeaux, 1938 ...Less

Literature

Rococo: Art and Design in Hogarth's England, V&A, London, 1984
F27 on pp. 92-93

Rococo: art and design in Hogarth's England, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 1984
no. F27 on pp. 92-93

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 25 ...More

Gowing, Lawrence, 'Hogarth, Hayman, and the Vauxhall Decorations' in 'The Burlington Magazine', January 1953 - 4-19; 95, no. 598
p. 11
Illus. on p. 8, fig. 4
see attached PDF

Festival of Britain 1951. Loan Exhibition. Three Exeter Artists of the Eighteenth Century. Francis Hayman, R.A., Francis Towne, John White Abbott, Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery, Exeter, 1951
no. 15 ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: Recto, lower right corner, fragment: upper portion of a Strasburg lily (the topmost fleur-de-lis sits on a full crescent, of the type seen in Heawood 1816 and 1817 - Amsterdam 1727 and London after 1707? - or Churchill 416 - dated 1788 - though none is a match).

Stamp: Mount (removed, now cut down and in object file): purple ink: "DOUANES / PARIS / EXPOSITION".

Collector's mark: Verso: lower right corner, stamped in black: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

Inscription: Recto: lower centre margin, brown ink: "Hunt the Whistle / the figures 3 Feet 1 In". Mount (removed, cut down, now in object file): graphite: "Frances Hayman RW 1469 / Hunt the Whistle / One of a series painted for / Vauxhall Gdns."

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