Description

This painting is one of only a small number of 'conversation pieces' by Thomas Bardwell, all dated to between 1736 and 1740. This type of informal group portrait, often set in a domestic environment, emerged as a genre in the early eighteenth century. Seated by the table in Bardwell's painting is Philip Broke of Nacton (1702-1762), MP for Ipswich, and his mother-in-law, Elizabeth Thurland, widow of Martin Bowes of Bury St Edmunds. His wife Ann and daughter Elizabeth stand to the left, while Ann's two unmarried sisters are shown to the right, one of whom holds a letter addressed 'To Mrs Bowes of Bury'. The empty picture frame depicted on the wall behind the figures echoes the painting's own original Kentian frame, a visual conceit suggesting that the family is waiting for Bardwell's group portrait to be hung in their parlour. This painting was displayed in the 1987 Tate exhibition 'Mannerrs and Morals: Hogarth and British Painting 1700-1760', curated by Elizabeth Einberg.

Thomas Bardwell was born in East Anglia and based his artistic practice there, with some time spent working in London, Yorkshire and Scotland. He also painted decorative panels, landscapes and more formal portraits, and was a writer on art, publishing 'The Practice of Painting and Perspective Made Easy' in 1756.