HENRY ROBERT MORLAND
(1716-1797)
The Laundry Maid
Engraved: Philip Dawe, mezzotint, published by R. Sayer & J. Bennett, London 1774
Provenance
Private Collection, UK
Henry Robert Morland was born in London in 1716. By the time he had reached artistic maturity he had earned a name for himself as being "a maker of most excellent crayons, which went by his name". The few examples of his pastels that have survived demonstrate a great range of technique.
Morland's series of women performing household chores, published as mezzotints by his friend Philip Dawe in 1769, were clearly inspired by Philip Mercier's series of paintings engraved during the 1750s under the collective title 'Domestic Employment'.