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The Family of John, 2nd Duke of Montagu and an Attendant

William Hogarthbetween 1730 and 1735

Yale Center for British Art

Yale Center for British Art
New Haven, CT, United States

William Hogarth helped popularize the small-scale conversation piece in the early 1730s, taking the conventions of full-scale aristocratic group portraiture and making them suitable to patrons from the gentry and middling ranks. The identity of this family has been lost but their home is filled with expensive goods and furnishings such as Chinese porcelain, much of it imported to England through expanding trade networks in Asia and Africa, or made from imported raw materials. The canvas has been cropped slightly on the left, leaving a pair of disembodied hands holding a tea tray. In its original state, the figure serving tea probably represented a young African servant, another sign of this family’s pretensions to refinement and status.

Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016

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  • Title: The Family of John, 2nd Duke of Montagu and an Attendant
  • Creator: William Hogarth, 1697–1764, British
  • Creator Lifespan: 1697/1764
  • Creator Nationality: British
  • Creator Gender: male
  • Date Created: between 1730 and 1735
  • Physical Dimensions: 21 x 29 1/2 inches (53.3 x 74.9 cm)
  • Subject Keywords: dog (animal), cat (domestic cat), Chinese vase, portrait, costume, card table, tea table, curtains, mirror, chandelier, chairs, tables, handkerchief, sculpture, conversation piece, bust, group portrait, saucer, tray, teacup, food, tea set, tea, drawing room, fireplace, interior, gesture, pregnancy, slave, family, servant, women, men, embroidering, party, furniture
  • External Link: https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:407
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Repository Name: Yale Center for British Art
  • Credit Line: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Yale Center for British Art

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