Oil paint on canvas
Tate Britain
Tate Collection
Works with images
Works on display
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/henry-robert-morland-386" aria-label="More by Henry Robert Morland" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Henry Robert Morland</a>
A Laundry Maid Ironing
Purchased 1894
actions: postures and motions
adults
chair
clothing and personal items
domestic
domestic
furnishings
hat, cap
iron
ironing
maid
objects
people
sitting
table
woman
work and occupations
<p>This painting of a maid ironing is typical for Morland, who specialised in such ‘fancy pictures’ - subjects drawn from everyday life but with imaginative elements. He repeatedly painted and exhibited idealised pictures of young women in working-class roles, as ballad singers, oyster sellers and laundry maids. Here, the woman is shown passively gazing down, serene as she works, her tools and appearance pristine. There is little indication of her individuality, or of the real hardship of such domestic labour. Instead, she represents a contrived ‘type’, made attractive for contemporary middle and upper-class viewers and saleable for the print market.</p><p><em>Gallery label, June 2022</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
18 October 2006 – 27 August 2007
2007-08-27
18 October 2006 – 26 August 2007
2007-08-26
2006-10-18
National Trust (Ickworth House, Suffolk)
18 October 2006 – 26 August 2007
2007-08-26
2006-10-18
National Trust (Upton House, Warwickshire)
2006-10-18
Reciprocal loan for 'Hogarth'
Loan-out
30 November 2012 – 24 July 2022
2022-07-24
1 December 2012
2012-12-01
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2012-11-30
Gallery 14
Collection based display
26 September 2022
26 September 2022
2022-09-26
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2022-09-26
Gallery 15
Collection based display
A Laundry Maid Ironing
support: 743 × 616 mm
frame: 942 × 817 × 92 mm
Purchased 1894
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<p>This painting of a maid ironing is typical for Morland, who specialised in such ‘fancy pictures’ - subjects drawn from everyday life but with imaginative elements. He repeatedly painted and exhibited idealised pictures of young women in working-class roles, as ballad singers, oyster sellers and laundry maids. Here, the woman is shown passively gazing down, serene as she works, her tools and appearance pristine. There is little indication of her individuality, or of the real hardship of such domestic labour. Instead, she represents a contrived ‘type’, made attractive for contemporary middle and upper-class viewers and saleable for the print market. </p>
</div>

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2022-06-15T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
actions: postures and motions adults chair clothing and personal items domestic domestic furnishings hat, cap iron ironing maid objects people sitting table woman work and occupations