Johan Joseph Zoffany, 1733-1810
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Here is another just great painting. There is so much here to learn from that I could type until my fingers dropped off. Detail: door, chair, table, fireplace, lantern, pitcher, plates, copper mug, copper pan, colander, basket, brass skimmer, coat, pipe, neckware, boots, buckskin breeches, table, child, candlestick, women’s clothes, cat, spit, spit turner, brass buckle belt, walking stick, meat.
It is the details that draw you in to the painting. Such as; the crease on the woman’s appron, the hole in the plaster, and the faint picture on the painting on the far wall.
Little things that we are used to seening in a photo, the painter had to think of putting them in to make the painting come alive.
Does anyone know whether the fichu as worn by the women in this painting functions primarily as a cover for the neckline, as those that are tucked in the bodice do in some of the other paintings, or whether it actually acts as part of the apron as kind of a forerunner to a pinafore sort of garment? I’d be interested in knowing whether this was a widespread or regional sort of styling as well.