Skip to Content
Today Open today 11–8

  • Mon 11–5
  • Tue–Wed Closed
  • Thu 11–8
  • Fri–Sun 11–5
  • The first hour of every day, 10–11 a.m., is reserved for member-only viewing.

Mrs. Pelham Feeding Her Chickens

A work made of mezzotint on cream wove paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

Image actions

  • A work made of mezzotint on cream wove paper.

Date:

1775

Artist:

William Dickinson (English, 1746-1823)
after Sir Joshua Reynolds (English, 1723-1792)

About this artwork

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.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

William Dickinson

Title

Mrs. Pelham Feeding Her Chickens

Place

England (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1766–1823

Medium

Mezzotint on cream wove paper

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.)

Credit Line

William McCallin McKee Memorial Endowment

Reference Number

1938.198

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/27227/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.
Learn more

Image actions

Share

Suggested Terms