Childhood

Childhood, Victorian Sentiment, prints books

  • Charles Edward Wilson, 'Blowing Bubbles'

    Charles Edward Wilson, 'Blowing Bubbles', about 1890-1900. Museum no. 1768-1900

    Charles Edward Wilson (active 1891-1936)
    'Blowing Bubbles'
    About 1890-1900
    Watercolour
    Museum no. 1768-1900
    Bequeathed by Henry Spencer Ashbee

    This girl is oblivious to the viewer, absorbed in her own world of childhood. The bubbles create a poignant symbol of childhood innocence - vulnerable, transitory and beyond adult reach.

  • Francis Bernard Dicksee, 'The Banker's Daughter or the Ruined Merchant'

    Francis Bernard Dicksee, 'The Banker's Daughter or the Ruined Merchant', 1860-1870. Museum no. D.1539-1907

    Francis Bernard Dicksee (1853-1928)
    'The Banker's Daughter or the Ruined Merchant'
    1860-1870
    Watercolour
    Museum no. D.1539-1907
    Given by Mrs G.E. Combes for the late W.H. Combes

    This scene of a contemporary middle class tragedy is a 'Langham Sketch'. Members of the Langham Sketching Club met weekly from October to May to draw for two hours on a set subject. The artists worked from memory and imagination to explore the scope of the theme. Dicksee focuses on the comforting role of a daughter.

  • After Sir John Everett Millais, 'Bubbles'

    After Sir John Everett Millais, 'Bubbles', 1886. Museum no. E.1660-1931

    After Sir John Everett Millais (1829-1896)
    'Bubbles'
    1886
    Cromolithograph
    Museum no. E.1660-1931
    Given by Messrs A. & F. Pears

    Millais' paintings of children were some of the most reproduced images of the 19th century. A. & F. Pears produced this print to advertise soap. The fact that both subject matter and artist were popular with middle class viewers lent kudos and respectability to the product.

  • Sir John Everett Millais, 'My Second Sermon'

    Sir John Everett Millais, 'My Second Sermon', 1864. Museum no. 399-1901

    Sir John Everett Millais (1829-1896)
    'My Second Sermon'
    1864
    Watercolour, based on an oil original.
    Museum no. 399-1901

    This subject followed on the phenomenal success of Millais' painting My First Sermon, exhibited in 1863. One critic noted: 'Everybody is rejoiced to recognise, sitting in the same place as last year, the little girl, now dear to many a heart, who then was listening…in rapt attention.' The image was widely reproduced as a print.

  • Charles Green, 'The Rabbit Hutch'

    Charles Green, 'The Rabbit Hutch', 1865. Museum no. 407-1891

    Charles Green (1840-1898)
    'The Rabbit Hutch'
    1865
    Watercolour
    Museum no. 407-1891
    Given by Prescott Hewitt

    Victorian artists often pictured children outdoors among plants and animals. The idea of children as innocent and unspoilt by adult society suggested an intrinsic connection with nature.

     

  • John Massey Wright (1777-1866), 'The Return of Olivia

    John Massey Wright (1777-1866), 'The Return of Olivia, from The Vicar of Wakefield', about 1840-1850. Museum no. 1918-1900

    John Massey Wright (1777-1866)
    'The Return of Olivia, from The Vicar of Wakefield'
    About 1840-1850
    Watercolour
    Bequeathed by Henry Spencer Ashbee
    Museum no. 1918-1900

    Goldsmith's novel, published in 1761-2, remained popular throughout the 19th century as it tapped into the vogue for domestic narrative and sentimentality. Olivia and Sophia, sisters but very different in temperament, were the subject of countless illustrations and images. This scene shows Olivia being welcomed back into the family following her elopement.