Oil paint on canvas
Tate Collection
Works with images
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Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/robert-braithwaite-martineau-372" aria-label="More by Robert Braithwaite Martineau" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Robert Braithwaite Martineau</a>
Last Day in Old Home
Presented by E.H. Martineau 1896
actions: expressive
adults
architecture
armour
auctioneer / estate agent
bottle
boy
carpet
children
clothing and personal items
decanter
domestic
drinking
eating and drinking
emotions and human qualities
emotions, concepts and ideas
England
England, South East
England, Southern
family
family
features
fine arts and music
fireplace
furnishings
gambling
glass
group
groups
heating and lighting
helmet
interiors
Kent
kitchen
landscape
leisure and pastimes
lifestyle and culture
living room
man
morality
objects
panelling
people
picture
places
playboy
recreational activities
smiling
social comment
society
stair / step
stupidity
talking
tapestry
toasting
trading and commercial
UK counties
UK countries and regions
vessels and containers
weeping
window, stained glass
woman
wooded
work and occupations
<p>This picture tells the story of an upper- middle-class family, forced to sell the ancestral home because of the fecklessness of a spendthrift father. The miniature case in the father’s hand and the sporting print on the left show that he has gambled away his inherited fortune on horseracing. The family’s possessions are to be sold – there are lot numbers attached to various objects and there’s an auction catalogue on the floor. But only the women appear concerned. The man and his son raise glasses of champagne, implying that the father’s hedonistic habits will pass down to his son.</p><p><em>Gallery label, July 2007</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
24 May 2001 – 2 December 2001
2001-12-02
24 May 2001 – 2 December 2001
2001-12-02
2001-05-24
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2001-05-24
Cruikshank Demon Drink
Collection based display
12 July 2003 – 15 August 2004
2004-08-15
12 July 2003 – 28 September 2003
2003-09-28
2003-07-12
Art Gallery of Western Australia (Perth, Australia)
25 October 2003 – 15 February 2004
2004-02-15
2003-10-25
Dunedin Public Art Gallery (Dunedin, New Zealand)
http://www.dunedin.art.museum
14 May 2004 – 15 August 2004
2004-08-15
2004-05-14
Frist Center for the Visual Arts (Nashville, USA)
2003-07-12
The Pre-Raphaelite Dream: Paintings and Drawings from the Tate Collection
Tate partnerships & programmes
1 August 2005 – 2 March 2008
2008-03-02
1 August 2007
2007-08-01
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2005-08-01
Victorian Paintings of Modern Life
Collection based display
2 December 2010 – 14 October 2012
2012-10-14
2 December 2010 – 14 October 2012
2012-10-14
2010-12-02
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2010-12-02
Gallery 9
Collection based display
12 September 2012 – 31 January 2014
2014-01-31
25 January 2014 – 6 April 2014
2014-04-06
2014-01-25
Mori Arts Centre (Tokyo, Japan)
19 April 2014 – 13 July 2014
2014-07-13
2014-04-19
Palazzo Chiablese (Turin, Italy)
2012-09-12
Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde
Exhibition
17 February 2013 – 31 August 2014
2014-08-31
25 January 2014 – 6 April 2014
2014-04-06
2014-01-25
Mori Arts Centre (Tokyo, Japan)
19 April 2014 – 13 July 2014
2014-07-13
2014-04-19
Palazzo Chiablese (Turin, Italy)
2013-02-17
Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde
Loan-out
10 October 2014 – 1 November 2015
2015-11-01
10 October 2014 – 1 November 2015
2015-11-01
2014-10-10
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2014-10-10
Poor Man's Picture Gallery
Collection based display
16 November 2015 – 13 November 2016
2016-11-13
16 November 2015 – 13 November 2016
2016-11-13
2015-11-16
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2015-11-16
Art and Alcohol
Collection based display
14 December 2018 – 19 September 2021
2021-09-19
14 December 2018 – 28 April 2019
2019-04-28
2018-12-14
National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australia)
13 May 2021 – 19 September 2021
2021-09-19
2021-05-13
Hungarian National Gallery (Budapest, Hungary)
2018-12-14
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
Tate partnerships & programmes
The Last Day in the Old Home
support: 1073 × 1448 mm
frame: 1418 × 1808 × 140 mm
Presented by E.H. Martineau 1896
<p>This work is typical of the social moralist pictures that were popular in <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/v/victorian" title="Glossary definition for 'Victorian'"><span>Victorian</span></a> art.  The Pulleyne family has been forced to sell the ancestral home, Hardham Court, and its contents, thanks to the irresponsible behaviour of a feckless spendthrift. 

</p><p>The picture contains a number of visual clues, which, when taken together, form an elaborate <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/n/narrative" title="Glossary definition for 'Narrative'"><span>narrative</span></a>.  Family <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/portrait" title="Glossary definition for 'Portrait'"><span>portraits</span></a> and items of furniture bearing the initials of previous Pulleynes indicate that the family has a long pedigree. The <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/m/miniature" title="Glossary definition for 'Miniature'"><span>miniature</span></a> case in the father's hand and the sporting <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/print" title="Glossary definition for 'Print'"><span>print</span></a> in the left foreground tell us that he has gambled his inherited fortune away on the horses. Lot numbers have been attached to various items of furniture and works of art, and, together with the Christie's catalogue on the floor, reveal that the family's possessions are soon to be sold. In the background, a man is already gathering the objects that will be sent for auction. To the left of the picture, an old woman (probably the grandmother) is giving a five-pound note to the butler, who is clutching the keys to the house. A newspaper protrudes from the blotter beside her, the word 'Apartments' clearly visible.  The moral is clear: gambling only leads to debt, and the accumulated wealth of centuries can be lost in one generation.

</p><p>Despite the hopelessness of their situation, only the women in the family appear concerned, while the man - we learn from the sale catalogue that he is Sir Charles Pulleyne - and his son raise glasses of champagne, preferring to live for the moment. Sir Charles rests one foot carelessly on an antique chair and puts his arm around his son's shoulders. The implication is that he will pass his hedonistic lifestyle and gambling habit down to the next generation.  The view out of the window, however, indicates that this family has reached the autumn of its life, and the bare branches of winter are tapping on the pane.  The fire is low in the grate, and it will not be long before they are completely bereft.

</p><p>A pupil of William Holman Hunt, Martineau appears to have inherited his teacher's interest in social themes, as well as the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/pre-raphaelite" title="Glossary definition for 'Pre-Raphaelite'"><span>Pre-Raphaelite</span></a> taste for painstaking detail. The dark interior reflects the Victorian taste for heavy oak furniture and carved panelling, and yet the picture is also characterised by bright colour and contrasting patterns and textures. The richly carved mantel is based on that of the Great Chamber of Godinton Park in Ashford Kent.  This house was the seat of the Toke family from 1440 to 1895.

</p><p><b>Further reading:<br/></b>Lionel Lambourne, <i>Victorian Painting</i>, London 1999, p.360, reproduced p.358, in colour.<br/>Christopher Wood, <i>Victorian Painting</i>, London 1999, pp.57-9, reproduced pp.58-9, in colour.

</p><p>Frances Fowle<br/>October 2000<br/></p>
Summary
2005-09-15T00:00:00
summary
SHORT_TEXT
<p>This picture tells the story of an upper- middle-class family, forced to sell the ancestral home because of the fecklessness of a spendthrift father. The miniature case in the father’s hand and the sporting print on the left show that he has gambled away his inherited fortune on horseracing. The family’s possessions are to be sold – there are lot numbers attached to various objects and there’s an auction catalogue on the floor. But only the women appear concerned. The man and his son raise glasses of champagne, implying that the father’s hedonistic habits will pass down to his son.</p>

Display caption
2007-07-11T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
actions: expressive adults architecture armour auctioneer / estate agent bottle boy carpet children clothing and personal items decanter domestic drinking eating and drinking emotions and human qualities emotions, concepts and ideas England England, South East England, Southern family family features fine arts and music fireplace furnishings gambling glass group groups heating and lighting helmet interiors Kent kitchen landscape leisure and pastimes lifestyle and culture living room man morality objects panelling people picture places playboy recreational activities smiling social comment society stair / step stupidity talking tapestry toasting trading and commercial UK counties UK countries and regions vessels and containers weeping window, stained glass woman wooded work and occupations