19th-century watercolour copy after the 1796 engraving "Nurs'd Abroad" by Joseph Strutt

19th-century watercolour copy after the 1796 engraving "Nurs'd Abroad" by Joseph Strutt. (the pair to the engraving "Nurs'd at Home").

„Nurs'd at Home” shows a mother seated on a stool holding her child on her lap: the child has short, curly hair, wears a white dress and embraces its mother. A woman, probably the child's nurse, leans over them both attentively. „Nurs'd Abroad” shows a wealthy mother visiting her child at the nurse's house. The mother, dressed in a white gown, with a ribboned hat and a muff, sits on a stool at the right and tries to greet her child: the child, who has short, curly hair and a white dress and slippers, turns towards the familiar figure of the nurse, who takes the child in her arms. The first image comments on the closer relationship between mother and child that can be achieved when both have shared the family home. Its pair, „Nurs'd Abroad”, comments on the effect on the mother-child relationship of the once fashionable custom of sending babies to be nursed by a wet nurse at her own home. These children were better cared for, but many of the parents and children may have become strangers to one another.

Not signed or dated.

Condition as shown in the photographs.

Dimensions with mount 32x25.5 cm.

without mount 22x19 cm.