7446 x 5957 px | 63 x 50,4 cm | 24,8 x 19,9 inches | 300dpi
Date de la prise de vue:
22 juillet 2006
Lieu:
England
Informations supplémentaires:
Cette image peut avoir des imperfections car il s’agit d’une image historique ou de reportage.
Detail from a watercolour painted by a Victorian child in the family circle of May Chatteris Fisher (1874-1910), who became a professional artist when she grew up. It is a rare example of an artwork by a child growing up in Victorian England. Although painting and drawing were popular pastimes amongst children during the 1800s, both in the US and Europe, very few examples of their efforts have survived. Today, paintings featuring Victorian children are quite common, but almost without exception these are the work of adults. This painting is possibly by one of May's sisters: Margaret (known as Daisy) born in 1873, or Helen (known as Nellie), born in 1875. The watercolour is not signed or dated, but it was found amongst other paintings signed by May as a child. We have assumed from the style of the picture that the artist was probably no more than 10 or 11 years old at the time. This means that the painting probably dates from circa 1885. May was born near Manchester in north west England. As an adult, and after studying at the Manchester Municipal School of Art, she became an accomplished book illustrator and bookplate designer. In 1901 and 1904 she illustrated two books of children’s fairy tales for the publishers Sherratt & Hughes: ‘Ignoramus’ by E. Todd and ‘Pixie’ by Frances Reddaway. In 1902, her works were praised in a survey, published in New York, of female bookplate designers on both sides of the Atlantic. In 1904, May married the established landscape painter, William Smallwood Winder (1869 – 1910), and subsequently signed her work MC Winder. D1154.B3775.A
