Childhood's Treasures (1886) Marianne Stokes
Oh, good lord, that's so wholesome. Look at the puppies! Look at the little apple-cheeked cherubs! The golden straw! I might need a sit down. Let's start with the ickle puppies...
Little wrinkly, velvet heads! You can almost feel how soft they are. I remember when we adopted Blossom as a little tiny puppy - the entire litter had been given to Battersea as the mom was a very posh Jack Russell from Windsor who had escaped one night and came home pregnant, bringing shame on the family...
The Outcast (1851) Richard Redgrave
Yes, like that, but with Jack Russells. Anyway, as the mom was a valuable show-dog, the owners kept her and gave the puppies to Battersea. Hang on, like this...
A Mother Depositing her child at the Foundling Hospital in Paris (1855) Henry Nelson O'Neil
Again, imagine it with Jack Russells. So, we were called up by Battersea to say they had some puppies to adopt and we met tiny Blossom, who was so small, she fell asleep along Mr Walker's forearm. Anyway, I remember her little warm, velvet-y head and you couldn't help falling in love. She still has a velvet head but her Staffie genes have kicked in and it's solid as a rock when she headbutts you, lovingly.
Blossom at 4 months old
Anyway, I digress. The puppies are not the only cute thing in the picture as Stokes has also given us some of the most adorable children on canvas...
These little rosy-cheeked poppets are peeking over the knackered wooden bench at the little pups. Their older sister is obviously the one in charge and holds one of the pups in a very Madonna-and-child kind of way...
The softness of the dogs contrasts with the roughness of their surroundings, again possibly alluding to Jesus in the stable, and I think the realism of that contrast keeps this image just this side of cloying. I was surprised that it was by Stokes who I don't normally think of in terms of sentimentality but she does do amazing images of children. This one is my favorite...
Polishing Pans (c.1887)
Blimey, that's glorious. I think that what Stokes might be saying in her deceptively saccharine scene is that cute and beautiful can exist in a hard environment. Beauty can be everywhere but maybe our appreciation of purity and innocence doesn't stop it perilously existing in a rough place. Will the puppies survive? Who knows. Will the little apple-cheeked kiddiwinks survive? Again, not entirely certain, but just for a moment both pups and poppets are happy and together, and all we can do is hope that there is enough care for both of them.
See you tomorrow.
