Flageolet Players

Maker Matthew William Peters (British, 1742-1814)

Collections

British Paintings

ClassificationsPAINTINGS

Dateca. 1780's

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensions65 3/4 x 50 1/2 in. (167 x 128.3 cm.)

DescriptionA group of four, a man, a boy, and two women, full-length. Right, a young woman sits three-quarters left, her head inclined toward her right shoulder, playing the flageolet. She has light-golden hair, a muslin mobcap with pink ribbon, and a yellow dress with white linen apron, fichu, and sleeves. On her right a boy, with red hair, black hat, and blue-gray smock, a flageolet. In the left foreground, her back three-quarters turned, a woman in a brown bodice and spotted kerchief stands watching the musicians. Her straw hat is tied with a yellow kerchief; she holds up her black skirt, showing a gold lining and red petticoat. Center background, a countryman, in russet coat, with a brown hat over his eyes, leans on a staff. In the right foreground, a loaf in a red kerchief, a cheese, and a drinking horn. Left background, cloudy blue sky; right, trees with autumn foliage.

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Label TextDepictions of country life in which the customs of the poor are idealized for the pleasure of urban viewers were popular in Europe throughout the 18th century. In this scene, a seated male figure reaches toward a woman, who holds a simple flute, called a flageolet, to her mouth. In the bottom right corner, a wheel of cheese, knife, tin cup, and loaf of bread wrapped in a red scarf indicate that this merry party has put aside labor for a picnic supper.

Status

Not on view

Object number21.3