Painting of a Boy Building a House of Cards, Accompanied by his Mastiff

Painting of a Boy Building a House of Cards, Accompanied by his Mastiff
North European. Mid-Eighteenth Century.
Measurements
Framed: Height: 35 1/2" (90.2 cm); Width: 32 1/4" (81.9 cm); Depth: 1 3/4" (4.5 cm). Sight size: Height: 31 1/4" (79.4); Width: 28" (71.1),
Research:
Oil on canvas.

The present painting takes for its main subject a young aristocratic boy engaged in the childhood pastime of building a house (or castle) of cards. “The theme of a child building a house of cards was a familiar one in which the delicately balanced cards represent the fragile nature of human endeavour” or serve as a reminder that childhood is brief. “Pictures of this subject were often accompanied by moralizing verses.”

The formal clothes and richly appointed interior in the present portrait show the sitter’s wealth and status. The furnishings depicted date to the second quarter of the eighteenth century; the elegant chair is of Régence style, while the games table table with its raised edge and carved cabriole legs is closer in period to Louis XV. The velvet-upholstered chair and curtain, and baize lining of the table, are all of purple to dark-red/brown hues. “Deemed decadent and valuable, purple was thereby reserved only for the elite, including rulers, high-ranking religious clergy and those of royal rank.”Additionally, the boy rests his feet on a footstool, also traditionally considered a status symbol, and which is similarly upholstered, and may suggest that the child is in fact a young lord or prince.

The boy is accompanied by his dog, typically symbolic of fidelity, which lays behind his chair. Specifically, the animal represented here is a mastiff, an ancient breed that was considered noble, used for hunting and fighting— “He is above all others the watch-dog. Bred for generations for this purpose, his impulses lead him exclusively in this direction—to watch and guard, and to repulse trespassers within his precinct…as a protector of women and children, he is without a peer—the sturdy and faithful watchman of the home.”

The interesting arched shape of the painting with incurved upper corners may indicate that this work was originally set within a boiserie, likely above a fireplace.

Full research report available on request.