Motherhood

Motherhood
 (1903)

Gallery location
19th Century European Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International

Artwork Details

Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
283.4 × 140.0 cm (framed) (overall)
Place/s of Execution
Ealing, Middlesex, England
Inscription
inscribed in black paint l.l.: George Coates
Accession Number
134-2
Department
Australian Painting
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Presented by the artist under the terms of the National Gallery of Victoria Travelling Scholarship, 1904
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation
Gallery location
19th Century European Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
Subjects (general)
Daily Life Relationships and Interactions
Subjects (specific)
cups (drinking vessels) curtains (window hangings) daughters families (kinship groups) family life jugs (vessels) mothers tablecloths
Provenance
Gift of the artist, 1904

Frame

The frame for Motherhood is in the form of Italian Renaissance tabernacle frames, it associates the painting with religious subjects and images of devotion. It is made in one piece and there are no marks identifying the maker. It is possible it was made in England and travelled with the painting. If it was made in Melbourne it would be by John Thallon, one of the few companies capable of building something on this scale in 1903/4. It would have been an expensive frame to build and demonstrates considerable commitment to the painting and the role of the frame in the presentation of the image.
The painting was acquired as part of the Travelling Scholarship requirements for the painter.

Frame Details

Framemaker
Unknown - 20th century
Date
c.1903/4
Materials

timber, composition and gold leaf

Frame Condition

good original condition

Discover more

Essay
An Australian student of Frank Brangwyn: Jessie C. A. Traill in London and Belgium, 1907–1908
Essay
Thea Proctor in London 1910–11: her early involvement with fashion

Explore the collection

Collins St, 5p.m. John BRACK Study Charles Samuel KEENE L' Hiver UNKNOWN; David TENIERS II (after) A serious conversation Henry TONKS Boy carrying bowl Charles KEENE Writing cabinet Rene DUBOIS The Market boat William RAINEY A Game at Ball Phil MAY Smoko Robert DICKERSON The Wedding March Rolf NESCH First study for drawing Charles Samuel KEENE Cerne Abbey Randolph SCHWABE Unidentified study for Punch Charles Samuel KEENE Shuttlecock Phil MAY Untitled Alfred E. CHALON Peonies and head of a woman John RUSSELL Swanston Street from the Bridge Henry BURN Fire escape Michael SHANNON Clock garniture MINTON, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire (manufacturer); Marc-Louis-Emmanuel SOLON (decorator) Two old men disputing REMBRANDT Harmensz. van Rijn The Column of Marcus Aurelius Giovanni Battista PIRANESI Les Etages- 'Monsieur Est En Affaire' BENARD Shearing the rams Tom ROBERTS Restaurant Scene Erlund HUDSON October Jules BASTIEN-LEPAGE Study for "The Emigrant Artist" Charles Samuel KEENE Market day at Waltham Abbey, Essex Thomas ROWLANDSON Head of Queen Nefertiti, from sculpture flanking Boundary Stela Q EGYPT, el-Amarna Dr John Dale Colin COLAHAN Circe Bertram MACKENNAL