Collection Online
Motherhood

Motherhood
(1903)

Medium
oil on canvas

Measurements
283.4 × 140.0 cm (framed) (overall)

Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Presented by the artist under the terms of the National Gallery of Victoria Travelling Scholarship, 1904

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

Download

Artwork Details

Place/s of Execution
Ealing, Middlesex, England

Inscription
inscribed in black paint l.l.: George Coates

Accession Number
134-2

Department
Australian Painting

This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation

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