Description
Street Arabs at Play by Dorothy Tennant (1855-1926) from the Lady Lever Art Gallery collection.
The historic title of this painting, Street Arabs at Play, uses an old-fashioned term for poor or indigent children that is today considered unacceptable but which was widely used in the Victorian period. Tennant also illustrated a children’s book with the title London Street Arabs in 1890.
Dorothy Tennant was born in London and studied at the Slade School of Fine Art; painting under Edward Poynter and printmaking with Alphonse Legros. In 1890 she married Sir Henry Morton Stanley, the explorer, and became known as Lady Stanley.
Tennant worked as a painter and illustrator, and a key subject in her work was children and families, particularly those living in poverty. She would sketch the children at play on Saturdays in St James’s Park or at the Embankment and then have them come to pose in her studio. They would often turn up too respectable so she kept ‘a good supply of rags’ that were ‘carefully fumigated, camphored and peppered’ in the studio for the children to dress up in.
This painting from 1890 shows the Surrey side of the Thames looking south from Fresh Wharf in front of Adelaide House
Specification
Dimensions: 30 x 40cm
Brand: Lady Lever Art Gallery
Printed in the UK
Deliveries
We aim to dispatch orders between 1-4 working days, however, as some items are stored at individual venues some orders may take longer. Orders are dispatched between Monday and Friday (excluding Bank Holidays).
UK delivery is with Royal Mail tracked 48 and costs from £3.75. We offer free delivery on UK orders over £40. Most orders take between 2 and 5 working days to be delivered. If you have any queries, please e-mail onlinesales@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk
We use Royal Mail's airmail service to post overseas. This can take from 1 to 4 weeks and costs from £13.00 in Europe and from £24.00 for the rest of the world depending on the weight of the parcel. Please be aware there may be local duty and/or taxes payable on goods delivered outside the UK. National Museums Liverpool are not responsible for paying these charges and they are not included in your payment to us. We will send your parcel with tracking where possible.
If you would like to order a large number of items, it may be worth contacting us directly to enquire about shipping costs.
Returns
If you are not totally satisfied with your order, please return it to us. Goods must be returned in the same condition you received them within 45 days of receiving the order. We will issue a refund or replacement at your request subject to certain conditions being met.
For more details go to the Delivery and Returns Page.
From Liverpool gifts to unique art-inspired accessories, we have a great range of gift ideas.
