Two Late-Regency Artists

If the names Bonington and Shotter Boys don’t ring any bells, you are not alone. Richard Parkes Bonington and Thomas Shotter Boys were both prolific artists of the late Regency period and, in my opinion, wonderful painters. Unlike Constable and Turner however, they are not commonly recognized names in the 21st century.

Richard Parkes Bonington was born in 1802 and he lived only twenty-six years. In those years his accomplishments and his output were astonishing. He required very little formal instruction; he was one of those born artists who simply know.
His family moved to Calais in 1816 and his career commenced there. He early mastered a luminous landscape style and excelled in both watercolours and oil. He was very interested in historical subjects, and many of his pencil sketches show an historical bent.
By 1827, Bonington was famous, and he was sick. His hectic work schedule and his extensive travels had worn him out, and he contracted tuberculosis. Throughout the following year he fought increasing weakness and continued his prodigious output. By September 1828 he was dead.

Thomas Shotter Boys was a friend and fellow artist of Bonington, a contemporary born in 1803. But unlike Bonington, he lived a long life, well into the Victorian era, dying in 1874.
Their careers intertwined when in 1823 or 24 Boys moved to Paris. Boys’ early instruction in art was not academic but gained during an apprenticeship to an engraver. That early training gave his work an attention to detail and draftsmanship that never disappeared. He worked mainly in watercolours, unlike Bonington, and in later years he became one of the chief developers of the process of lithography.

Bonington and Boys, along with Callow, Cooke and others, ranged Paris in the 1820s painting the same scenes and occasionally buying each other’s work. Boys, in about 1826, drew a pen and ink of the interior of Bonington’s studio in the Rue des Martyrs, Paris.

Despite his long life, Boys never achieved the fame and fortune that Bonington did in his few years. Boys died in poverty, but left a legacy of achievement in watercolour and lithography.

Neither artist is well known now; of the two Bonington is more widely recognized. I like Boys’ work a little better—something in his architectural approach to street scenes and his attention to detail appeal greatly to me.

I hope you will have the opportunity to explore their work—so alike, yet different. And I hope you will let me know which you prefer...

'Til next time,
Lesley-Anne

"Laws Respecting Servants"

"Laws Respecting Servants"

from The Servants' Guide and Family Manual, 2^nd edition, 1831

I have just turned up, quite by chance, some very interesting laws--"abstracts of Acts of Parliament respecting servants"--in the above-mentioned item found on Google Books. It is interested to note that the abstracts lean heavily towards charges and punishments for offenses committed by servants, and barely mention crimes against servants.

Here are some extracts:

"A servant setting fire carelessly to a house, is liable to pay, on the oath of one witness, 100₤ to the sufferer, or be committed to prison and hard labour for 18 months.

If a servant refuse to serve his term, he may be committed till he give security to service the time; or he may be sent to the House of Correction, and punished there as a disorderly person.

Should a woman with child hire herself for a term, and the master she hires with know not of her being with child, he may discharge her, but before a magistrate.

If a servant, after warning is given, is insolent, or refuses to do his duty, a magistrate, on complaint, will commit him to prison for the time he has to serve; but the master will be order to pay him his wages whilst there.

No agreement a servant shall make with his master to his disadvantage whilst he is under the age of 21, shall operate against him.

If any servant shall purloin, or make away with his master's goods to the amount of 40s. it is felony.

A servant may stand up in his master or mistress's defence, and assault any one that assaults them, without being liable to any punishment by law.

Whatever trespasses a servant commits, by order of his master, the master is answerable for it, not the servant.

Masters are justifiable in insisting on their servants going to church.

Servants gaming at a public-house with cards, dice,…etc. are liable to be apprehended, and forfeit from 5s. to 20s., one-fourth to the informer, or be committed to hard labour for a month, or till the penalty is paid.

If any servant shall curse or swear, and be convicted on the oath of one witness, before one justice, within eight days of the offence, he shall forfeit 1s. for the first offence, 2s if convicted a second time, and 3s. the third time; or be committed to hard labour for ten days.

Every person convicted of having been drunk, within six months of the complaint made, before one justice, on the oath of one witness, shall forfeit 5s. for the first offence, or be set in the stocks for six hours.

Servants pawning their master's goods without orders, shall forfeit 20s. and the value of the goods so pawned, or be sent to the House of Correction for three months, and publicly whipped."

Punishments are harsh--one would expect fines and gaol terms, but hard labour, stocks and even public whipping seem extreme to a modern sensibility. But these were times when you could be hanged for public theft. Perhaps the punishments visited on wayward servants were considered lenient. What do you think?

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

The Regency Dance

Before society was overtaken by electronic amusements--television, films, computer games, and the ubiquitous handheld gadgets, people were adept at making their own amusements. Card games, charades, word games, and puzzles abounded. For the musically inclined, playing instruments and singing were a popular way of passing the time. For those with more energy and high spirits, there was dancing.

From the formalities of the minuet and the quadrille through the occasional intricacies of the contre or country dance to the romping jigs and reels, people danced. At the height of the Revolution in France, dancing clubs were popular.
At dancing parties, and dancing schools, with dancing masters and dancing manuals, Regency society danced. And they talked about dancing:

"As dancing is the accomplishment most calculated to display a fine form, elegant taste, and graceful carriage to advantage; so towards it, our regards must be particularly turned; and we shall find that when Beauty, in all her power, is to be set forth, she cannot chuse a more effective exhibition.

"The characteristic of an English country-dance is that of gay simplicity. The steps should be few and easy; and the corresponding motion of the arms and body unaffected, modest, and graceful.

"But with regard to the lately-introduced German waltz, I cannot speak so favourably….There is something in the close approximation of persons, in the attitudes, and n the motion, which ill aggress with the delicacy of woman,…"

So says "Regency Etiquette: The Mirror of Graces (1811) a reprint from R. L. Shep Publications ISBN 0-914046-24-1
Edward Austen-Leigh, Jane Austen's nephew, commented on dancing: "The stately minuet reigned supreme; and every regular ball commenced with it….Gloves immaculately clean wee considered requisite for its due performance, while gloves a little soiled were thought good enough for a country dance; and accordingly some prudent ladies provided themselves with two pairs for their several purposes."

Even poetry inclined to the dance in the book (available for download from Google Books), "The Ball, or A Glance at Almack's in 1829" by G. Yates:

"'Tis Dancing only heightens every charm,
And gives each feature double power to warm;
Like goddesses, it shows us how to move,
And adds a Juno to the Queen of Love."

Mr. Yates further offered:
"To dance as if a person had passed all his life in the study of it, a man of sense should be ashamed of: yet to be totally ignorant of it, and the grace and comportment which, by learning it, is acquired, shows a man of learning either an ill-natured stoic, or ill-bred pedant."

And Jane Austen, as always, may have the final word:

"...To be fond of dancing is a certain step towards falling in Love... "- Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

Do you enjoy dancing? Do you square dance? It is a direct relative of the 'contre-danse'. Have you tried Regency dancing? Some cities have Regency dance clubs--I wish mine did!

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne