
Mrs. Pelham Feeding Her Chickens
William DickinsonWW-1766-119204
1766·Mezzotint on cream wove paper·Image: 62 × 38.2 cm (24 7/16 × 15 1/16 in.); Plate: 62.1 × 38.5 cm (24 1/2 × 15 3/16 in.); Sheet: 65.5 × 42.5 cm (25 13/16 × 16 3/4 in.)
<p>Printed after a 1770 Joshua Reynolds painting, this mezzotint features the 1st Baroness of Yarborough, Mrs. Sophia Pelham. Mrs. Pelham wears a workingclass–inspired yet finely embroidered Brunswick dress to feed her chickens before a rustic farmhouse. Such scenes are reminiscent of the 18th-century British fashion for ornamental farms and dairies within elite society, similar to Marie Antoinette’s 1783 Hamlet at Versailles, with its imported Swiss sheep and cows. In fact, Mrs. Pelham had her own ornamental dairy, built in 1779 and outfitted entirely in Wedgwood Queen’s Ware dishes and equipment.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1766
- Dimensions
- Image: 62 × 38.2 cm (24 7/16 × 15 1/16 in.); Plate: 62.1 × 38.5 cm (24 1/2 × 15 3/16 in.); Sheet: 65.5 × 42.5 cm (25 13/16 × 16 3/4 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- William Dickinson
Artist

William Dickinson
William Dickinson (English, 1746-1823)
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Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- William Dickinson
- Year
- 1766
- Dimensions
- Image: 62 × 38.2 cm (24 7/16 × 15 1/16 in.); Plate: 62.1 × 38.5 cm (24 1/2 × 15 3/16 in.); Sheet: 65.5 × 42.5 cm (25 13/16 × 16 3/4 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1766-119204
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified

