Object Description
Fred Morgan, ‘A Family Party’, large Victorian watercolour painting
English, Late 19th Century
Panel: Height 52cm, width 72cm
Frame: Height 80cm, width 98cm, depth 6cm
This charming Victorian painting captures the discovery of a litter of puppies. Two children, a boy and a girl, hold a basket containing three puppies. They show their findings to their mother, who sits with a dog at her feet, and there is wonderful mirroring between the mother and her children and the dog and her puppies. The mother has an adorable baby perched on her knee, who clasps its hands together in delight. The artist’s own wife is the model for the mother.
The family stand upon a decorative picnic rug, the mother sitting in a large chair. Their interaction takes place on a beautiful countryside patio, shaded by verdant trees with the calm sea just visible in the right corner. There is a sense that the idyllic landscape reflects the idealised scene at hand. The artist has rendered the painting in soft watercolours, which further add to the tenderness of the scene.
The painting is enclosed within a carved giltwood frame, that is inscribed to the slip ‘A Family Party / Fred Morgan. R.I.’. The painting itself is signed ‘Fred Morgan’ in the lower left corner. The artist Fred Morgan (1847-1927) is known for his tender scenes of upper-middle-class countryside living, with a focus on capturing the innocence of childhood.
With its pleasing subject, this idyllic familial painting could suit both a traditional and a contemporary interior.