The Conversation Piece: Making Modern Art in Eighteenth-Century Britain

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00340

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23263

Pioneered by William Hogarth (1697–1764) and his peers in the early 18th century, and then revitalized by Johan Zoffany (1733–1810), the conversation piece was an innovative mode of portraiture, depicting groups posed in landscape or domestic settings. These artists grappled with creating complex multi-figured compositions and intricate narratives, filling their paintings with representations of socially, nationally, and temporally precise customs. Paying particular attention to the vibrant (and at times fabricated) interior and exterior settings in these works, Kate Retford discusses the various ways that the conversation piece engaged with the rich material culture of Georgian Britain. The book also explores how these portraits served a wide array of interests and concerns among familial networks and larger social groups. From codifying performances of politeness to engaging in cross-cultural exchanges, the conversation piece was a complex and nuanced expression of a multifaceted society.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK:
". . . it provides not only an extremely satisfying account of conversation pieces but makes significant contributions to our understanding of British art and the eighteenth century more broadly. Essential." — Craig Hanson, Choice

*This eBook is available exclusively on the A&AePortal.*

Author

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Print publication date October 2017 (out of print)

Print ISBN 9780300194807

EISBN 9780300272888

Illustrations 232

Print Status out of print

Publisher (out of print)

WorldCat

Google Books

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List of illustrations

Installation shot of the Loan Exhibition of English Conversation Pieces in Aid of the Royal Northern Hospital at 25 Park Lane
Installation shot of the Loan Exhibition of English Conversation Pieces in Aid of the Royal Northern Hospital at 25 Park Lane
John, Fourteenth Lord Willoughby de Broke, and His Family
Trent Park, Hertfordshire, after Philip Sassoon's remodeling
The Drawing Room at 25 Park Lane
Trent Park with Philip and Sybil Sassoon
The Sitwell Family
The Sitwell Family
Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, and His Family
Interior of an Inn
Conversation Piece
L'Amour Paisible
The Wollaston Family
The Gravenor Family
Benn's Club of Aldermen
Portrait of Jan Jacobsz. Hinlopen and Leonora Huydecoper and Their Household
A Gentleman with His Two Daughters
An English Family at Tea
Music-Making Company
Les Plaisirs du Bal
La Conversation
The Schutz Family and Their Friends on a Terrace
The Garden of Love
The Milbanke and Melbourne Families
A Conversation of Girls
A Conversation of Monkies
A Dinner Party
A Conversation of Virtuosis…at the Kings Arms
George Vertue's notebook sketch of Gawen Hamilton's Conversation of Virtuosis
Thomas Walker and Peter Monamy
Conversation Piece (Portrait of Sir Andrew Fountaine with Other Men and Women)
Comedians by a Fountain
The Music Party
Frederick, Prince of Wales, with the Members of La Table Ronde
Frederick, Prince of Wales, with the Members of La Table Ronde, detail
The Henry the Fifth Club or The Gang
The Principles of Painting…Written Originally in French by Mons. Du Piles…And Now First Translated into English. By a Painter
Louis François Roubiliac's lay figure
Lay figure costume of a hussar jacket and trousers that belonged to Arthur Devis
Francis Vincent of Weddington Hall, Warwickshire, with His Wife Mercy and Daughter Ann
The Marriage of Miss Whichcote of Harpswell with the Dean of York
Study for The Marriage of Miss Whichcote of Harpswell with the Dean of York–I
Study for The Marriage of Miss Whichcote of Harpswell with the Dean of York–II
Study for The Marriage of Miss Whichcote of Harpswell with the Dean of York–III
The Judgement of Hercules
New Principles of Linear Perspective
A portrait of the Vigor Family: Jane Vigor, Joseph Vigor, Ann Vigor, William Vigor and probably John Penn
The Broke and Bowes Families
Dr Brook Taylor's Method of Perspective made Easy, both in Theory and Practice
The John Bacon Family
The Conversation of Gentleman considered in most of the ways that make their mutual company agreeable, or disagreeable
Nicol Graham of Gartmore and Two Friends in a Library
The Cromwell and Thornhill Families Taking Tea
Standing
To Give or Receive
Complement Retiring
The Complement Retiring
Uvedale Tomkyns Price (1685–1764) and Members of His Family
Thomas Smith (1699/1700–1744), his Family and an Unidentified Attendant
The Art of Painting
Richard Peers Symons, M.P. (Later Baronet)
A Scene from The Beggar's Opera VI
A Performance of The Indian Emperor or The Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards
The Family of Sir William Young
Ashley Cowper with His Wife and Daughter
David Garrick and Mrs Pritchard in Benjamin Hoadley's The Suspicious Husband
Francis Vernon and His Family
The Watson-Wentworth and Finch Families
A Capriccio
Scene from A School for Scandal
Portrait of a Group of Gentleman, with the Artist
A Family Being Served with Tea, possibly the Carter family
A Family Being Served with Tea, possibly the Carter family, detail
Vanitas with Violin and Glass Ball
A Musical Assembly
The Gough Family
George III (1738–1820), Queen Charlotte (1744–1818) and their Six Eldest Children
Conversation Piece
Embassy of Hyder Beg Khan to Calcutta
Tiger Hunting in the East Indies—Index Plate
Group Portrait of Sir Elijah and Lady Impey
Colonel Blair with His Family and an Indian Ayah
An Interior with Members of a Family
Sir William and the First Lady Hamilton in Their Villa in Naples
James Erskine, Lord Alva (1722–1796) and his family
The Family of John, 4th Duke of Atholl
A Highland Wedding at Blair Atholl
The Family of John, 3rd Duke of Atholl
Death of a Hart in Glen Tilt
Charles Grant, Vicomte de Vaux
Sir James Grant of Grant
Sir James and Lady Grant
The Ladies Elizabeth and Henrietta Montagu
The Chambers Family
The Capel Family
The Belton Conversation Piece
The Park at Belton, Lincolnshire
Wollaton Hall and Park, Nottinghamshire
Thoresby Hall
Robert Gwillym of Atherton and His Family
Vitruvius Britannicus
Leak Okeover, Rev. John Allen and Captain Chester in the Grounds at Okeover Hall
The Hon. Robert Cholmondeley, His Wife and Son in a Garden
Smell
The Orange Tree Garden at Chiswick
Stowe Gardens in Buckinghamshire: View of the Queen's Theatre from the Rotunda
The Brockman Family at Beachborough: Temple Pond with Temple in the Distance at Left
The Brockman Family at Beachborough: Temple Pond with Temple in Right Foreground
The Montagu Family at Sandleford Priory
The Montagu Family at Sandleford Priory, detail
Mr and Mrs Andrews
George and Margaret Rogers
Members of the Maynard Family in the Park at Waltons
Sir John Shaw and his Family in the Park at Eltham Lodge, Kent
The Edgar Children: Charlotte Edgar and her Sister Elizabeth Edgar of Red House Park
The Earl and Countess of Upper Ossory and Their Children at Ampthill Park
The Sondes Children
The Sayer Family
The Temple to Shakespeare at Hampton House with Mr and Mrs Garrick
The Garden at Hampton House with Mr and Mrs Garrick Taking Tea
A View of Hampton House and Garden and David Garrick Sitting on the Lawn Reading
Garrick's Nieces in the Garden at Hampton
Three Sons of John, 3rd Earl of Bute
Three Daughters of John, 3rd Earl of Bute
A Family Group in a Landscape
The Bradshaw Family
Mr and Mrs Richardson
The Browne Family
The Marquess and Marchioness of Antrim
St Woolstons, Kildare
Neil, 3rd Earl of Rosebery and His Family at Barnbougle Castle
Tea Party at Lord Harrington's House, St. James's
Sir Rowland Winn, 5th Bt (1739–1785), and his Wife Sabine Louise d'Hervart (1734–1798), in the Library at Nostell Priory
View of the library, Nostell Priory
William and Lucy Atherton
Mr and Mrs Bull
Mr and Mrs Dashwood
A Group in an Interior Round a Harpsichord
A Harlot's Progress: Plate 2
Marriage à la Mode: 2, The Tête à Tête
The Duet
Mr. and Mrs. Hill
The City and Country Builder's and Workman's Treasury of Designs or The Art of Drawing and Working the Ornamental Parts of Architecture
The City and Country Builder's and Workman's Treasury of Designs or The Art of Drawing and Working the Ornamental Parts of Architecture
Design for the South Wall and Alcove of the Palm Room, Spencer House
Sir Andrew Fountaine and Friends in the Tribuna
Samuel Richardson
Drawing Room, Blair Castle, Perthshire
The Shudi Family Group
Color Lithograph after Marcus Tuscher's The Shudi Family
Assembly at Wanstead House
Assembly at Wanstead House, detail
The Tylney Family in the Saloon at Wanstead
Wanstead House from the East
Fireplace from Wanstead, Essex
Vitruvius Britannicus
Vitruvius Britannicus
Queen Charlotte (1744–1818) with her Two Eldest Sons
George, Prince of Wales, and Frederick, Later Duke of York, at Buckingham House
Buckingham House: The Second Drawing Room
A Cabinet of Pictures
Sir Lawrence Dundas with His Grandson
Sir Lawrence Dundas with His Grandson, detail
A Calm
One of a pair of tea caddies
Tea Party Group
Queensware teapot
Tea tray
The Clavey Family in Their Garden at Hampstead
Edward Gordon, His Sister Mrs Miles and Her Husband in Their Garden at Bromley
The Crewe Family
The Gore Family with George, 3rd Earl Cowper
The Oliver and Ward Families
The Du Cane and Boehm Family Group
The Du Cane and Boehm Family Group, detail
The Porten Family
The Drummond Family
The Du Cane and Boehm Family Group, detail
Portrait of Mrs Congreve with her Children
John Orde, His Wife, Anne, His Eldest Son, William, and a Servant
The Reverend Streynsham Master and His Wife, Margaret, of Croston, Lancashire
The Drake Family of Shardeloes
Edward Rookes-Leeds and His Family of Royds Hall, Low Moor, Yorkshire
The Betts Family
John Francis, 7th Earl of Mar and Family
John and Sophia Musters Riding Past the South Front of Colwick Hall
John Musters and the Rev. Philip Story Riding Out from the Stable Block at Colwick Hall
The Strode Family
The Western Family
The Auriol and Dashwood Families
Members of the Carrow Abbey Hunt
A Conversation of Virtuosis…at the Kings Arms, detail
The Tribuna of the Uffizi
Notebook sketch of the Rose and Crown club in red chalk, recto
Notebook sketch of the Rose and Crown club in red chalk, verso
The Connoisseurs
William Drake of Shardeloes with His Tutor Dr Townson and Edward Holdsworth in His Apartment in Rome
William Drake of Shardeloes with His Tutor Dr Townson and Edward Holdsworth in His Apartment in Rome, detail
Charles, Lord Hope and His Brother James, Later 3rd Earl of Hopetoun, with Their Tutor William Rouett
Hugh, Lord Warkworth, later 2nd Duke of Northumberland, and the Rev. Jonathan Lipyeatt
James Grant of Grant, John Mytton, the Hon. Thomas Robinson, and Thomas Wynne
Edward, Duke of York (1739–67) with his Friends in Venice
George Harry Grey, Lord Grey of Groby, later 5th Earl of Stamford (1737–1819) and his Travelling Companion, Sir Henry Mainwaring, 4th Bt (1726–1797)
George Harry Grey, 5th Earl of Stamford (1737–1819)
A Punch Party
The Brothers Clarke with Other Gentleman Taking Wine
A Midnight Modern Conversation
A Club of Gentlemen
Captain Lord George Graham, 1715–47, in his Cabin
Mr Oldham and His Guests
The Limerick Hell Fire Club
Goblet
A Group Portrait of Sir Thomas Sebright, Sir John Bland and Two Friends
John Frederick Sackville (3rd Duke of Dorset), and Mr Ralph Petley of Riverhead
A Caricature Group
Group Portrait, probably of the Raikes Family
Portrait of a Family
The Cholmondeley Family
John and Elizabeth Jeffreys and Their Children
The Vicar of the Parish Visits the Infant Squire
The Strong Family
The Jones Family Conversation Piece
The Jones Family Conversation Piece, detail
The Hervey Conversation Piece
Charles Townley and Friends in His Library at Park Street, Westminster
The Sharp Family
The Sharp Family, detail
Evening, from The Four Times of Day
The Nugent Family
The Russell and Rivett Families
The Russell and Rivett Families, detail
The Russell and Rivett Families, detail

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Contents

The Conversation Piece: Making Modern Art in Eighteenth-Century Britain

Contents

Author

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23264

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Acknowledgements

The Conversation Piece: Making Modern Art in Eighteenth-Century Britain

Acknowledgements

Author

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23265

Introduction: 25 Park Lane, March 1930

The Conversation Piece: Making Modern Art in Eighteenth-Century Britain

In the spring of 1930, an exhibition entitled English Conversation Pieces opened in Park Lane in London, organised by Sir Philip Sassoo...

Author

Chapter subject tags:Art--England--London--ExhibitionsConversation piece (Portrait painting)Vertue, George, 1684-1756Portrait painting, British--18th centuryArt and society--Britain--History--18th centuryEngland--Social life and customs--18th centuryZoffany, Johann, 1733-1810

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Related print edition pages: pp.1-31

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00340.1

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23266

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Part 1: Frameworks

The Conversation Piece: Making Modern Art in Eighteenth-Century Britain

Part 1: Frameworks

Author

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23267

1. Making Modern Art

The Conversation Piece: Making Modern Art in Eighteenth-Century Britain

At one point in the hundreds of notebook pages that George Vertue filled with his comments on art in Britain, past and present, we find a humorous remark about the physique of the most important artists at work in early eighteenth-century London...

Author

Chapter subject tags:Conversation piece (Portrait painting)Portrait painting, British--18th centuryArt and society--Britain--History--18th centuryVertue, George, 1684-1756Hogarth, William, 1697-1764Hamilton, Gawen, approximately 1697-1737Mercier, Philip, 1689?-1760Devis, Arthur, 1711-1787Clothing and dress--Great Britain--History--18th centuryHighmore, Joseph, 1692-1780

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Related print edition pages: pp.35-61

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00340.2

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23268

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2. Staging the Art of ‘Talk’

The Conversation Piece: Making Modern Art in Eighteenth-Century Britain

Vertue’s discussions of the conversation piece in the 1730s constantly feature words such as ‘agreeable’, ‘easy’, ‘natural’ and ‘graceful’. William Hogarth, he notes, had ‘daily success...

Author

Chapter subject tags:Conversation piece (Portrait painting)Hogarth, William, 1697-1764Portrait painting, British--18th centuryDevis, Arthur, 1711-1787Interior decoration--England--18th centuryEngland--Social life and customs--18th centuryArt and society--Britain--History--18th century

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Related print edition pages: pp.63-91

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00340.3

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23269

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3. ‘Mode and Manner of the Time’

The Conversation Piece: Making Modern Art in Eighteenth-Century Britain

The idea of ‘conversation’ as sociable exchange is the one most familiar today, but in this chapter I will turn to those longer standing definitions, rooted in the Latin conversatio, outlined in my introduction...

Author

Chapter subject tags:Conversation piece (Portrait painting)Zoffany, Johann, 1733-1810Allan, David, 1744-1796Portrait painting, British--18th centuryEngland--Social life and customs--18th centuryArt and society--Britain--History--18th centuryInterior decoration--England--18th centuryReynolds, Joshua, Sir, 1723–1792

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Related print edition pages: pp.93-125

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00340.4

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23270

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Part 2: Settings

The Conversation Piece: Making Modern Art in Eighteenth-Century Britain

Part 2: Settings

Author

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23271

4. Fabricating Space I: Outside

The Conversation Piece: Making Modern Art in Eighteenth-Century Britain

Exterior spaces in conversation pieces range from evocative pastoral settings to precise locations in front of country houses; from generic landscapes, composed of framing trees and winding rivers, to established viewpoints within gardens, marked by temples or inviting seats...

Author

Chapter subject tags:Conversation piece (Portrait painting)Country homes--EnglandZoffany, Johann, 1733-1810England--Social life and customs--18th centuryArt and society--Britain--History--18th centuryPortrait painting, British--18th centuryGardens, English, in art--18th centuryDevis, Arthur, 1711-1787

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Related print edition pages: pp.129-171

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00340.5

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23272

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5. Fabricating Space II: Inside

The Conversation Piece: Making Modern Art in Eighteenth-Century Britain

Charles Philips’s Tea Party at Lord Harrington’s, painted in 1730, has long presented a conundrum...

Author

Chapter subject tags:Conversation piece (Portrait painting)Zoffany, Johann, 1733-1810Portrait painting, British--18th centuryEngland--Social life and customs--18th centuryArt and society--Britain--History--18th centuryInterior decoration--England--18th centuryCountry homes--England--18th centuryDevis, Arthur, 1711-1787Hogarth, William, 1697-1764Decorative arts--Great Britain--18th century

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Related print edition pages: pp.173-213

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00340.6

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23273

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Part 3: People

The Conversation Piece: Making Modern Art in Eighteenth-Century Britain

Part 3: People

Author

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23274

6. ‘Familys Done in Familiar Case in Groups’

The Conversation Piece: Making Modern Art in Eighteenth-Century Britain

It is often written that a ‘conversation piece’ is usually a ‘family piece’ – but there are two problems with this idea...

Author

Chapter subject tags:Conversation piece (Portrait painting)Portrait painting, British--18th centuryEngland--Social life and customs--18th centuryArt and society--Britain--History--18th centuryDevis, Arthur, 1711-1787Zoffany, Johann, 1733-1810Hamilton, Gawen, approximately 1697-1737

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Related print edition pages: pp.217-249

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00340.7

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23275

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7. ‘The Conversation of a Well Chosen Friend’

The Conversation Piece: Making Modern Art in Eighteenth-Century Britain

The format of the conversation piece enabled the representation of significant constellations of sitters, charting and ‘recognising’ relationships that often moved fluidly between the familial and the non-familial...

Author

Chapter subject tags:Conversation piece (Portrait painting)Portrait painting, British--18th centuryEngland--Social life and customs--18th centuryMen--Societies and clubs--Great Britain--18th centuryHamilton, Gawen, approximately 1697-1737Zoffany, Johann, 1733-1810Grand tours (Education)Hogarth, William, 1697-1764Caricatures and cartoons--British--18th century

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Related print edition pages: pp.251-285

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00340.8

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23276

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8. ‘Light Incidents’

The Conversation Piece: Making Modern Art in Eighteenth-Century Britain

On the morning of 27 May 1732, William Hogarth, Ebenezer Forrest and some other friends set out from the Bedford Arms Tavern in Covent Garden on an impromptu five-day excursion to and around Kent...

Author

Chapter subject tags:Conversation piece (Portrait painting)Zoffany, Johann, 1733-1810England--Social life and customs--18th centuryPortrait painting, British--18th centuryHogarth, William, 1697-1764Wit and humor in art--Great Britain--18th century

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Related print edition pages: pp.287-313

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00340.9

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23277

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Conclusion

The Conversation Piece: Making Modern Art in Eighteenth-Century Britain

George Vertue’s well-known, enthusiastic response in 1730 on viewing The Wollaston Family, painted by his fellow Rosacoronian, William Hogarth...

Author

PublisherPaul Mellon Centre

Related print edition pages: pp.315-327

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00340.10

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-23278

Chapter subject tags:Conversation piece (Portrait painting)Portrait painting, British--18th century

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