Palmerston Fair I

Maker Francis Wheatley (British, 1747-1801)

ClassificationsDRAWINGS

Date1782

Mediumpen and black ink and wash and watercolor over traces of graphite on laid paper mounted on laid paper

Dimensions7 1/8 × 9 3/8 in. (18.1 × 23.8 cm.)

SignedSignature; with initials Date FW delt 1782

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Status

Not on view

Label TextWhile living in Dublin, Wheatley began to draw and paint the large fairs that took place outside the city each summer. Though a location is specified in the drawing’s title, Wheatley visited several fairs, making on-the-spot sketches of incidents and figures that he later combined into imaginative compositions. Here, a rustic group gathers outside a tent. A barefoot young woman dispenses ale from a barrel, while a man, clearly
having been overserved, sprawls at left. The scene is gently comic, intended for an elite audience, with a soft palette and relatively innocuous figures. It contradicts the reputation of such fairs, which were infamous for their disorder, amorality, and violence (2022).

Object number57.3

Terms