Posies

Thomas Cantrell Dugdale 1880 - 1952

Summary

A scene of a young woman and child in a field of tall grasses, picking flowers. The woman is dressed in a pale, long dress, and a large hat with a purple ribbon around it hiding her face. She leans forward to give the child another flower to add to his bunch. The blonde child is holding a bunch of white flowers and is wearing a blue smock. The foreground is filled with brightly coloured flowers, and the background is all green foliage.

Display Label

Posies 1912 Thomas Cantrell Dugdale 1880-1952 Oil on canvas Dugdale has skilfully created a painting redolent of summer heat in subdued grey-green with only a scattering of hot colour. The small boy is charmingly preoccupied with his task, and the woman assumes the Edwardian maternal role of gentle guide. In fact the model was Dugdale’s future wife Amy K Browning and the small boy her nephew Jack. Browning was an artist and suffragette, a friend of the great campaigner for women’s suffrage Sylvia Pankhurst. Dugdale was born in Blackburn, the son of an engineer. He was educated at Manchester Grammar School, and studied at Manchester School of Art, before going on to further study in London and Paris. The trelliswork effect of sweet peas and twigs against the white dress here signals another of Dugdale’s skills: he was also a textile designer, becoming artistic advisor to the Manchester calico printer Tootal, Broadhurst & Co. Purchased 1912.38