Sir Francis Ford's Children Giving a Coin to a Beggar Boy

Sir Francis Ford's Children Giving a Coin to a Beggar Boy
ArtistWilliam Beechey
Year1793
TypeOil on canvas, portrait
Dimensions180 cm × 150 cm (71 in × 59 in)
LocationTate Britain, London

Sir Francis Ford's Children Giving a Coin to a Beggar Boy is a 1793 portrait painting by the British artist William Beechey. It shows two well-dressed children of Sir Francis Ford passing a coin to a beggar.[1] Ford was a wealthy owner of plantations in the West Indies and it has been suggested that the image may have reinforced an argument that the poor of Britain were less cared for-than the slaves in the Caribbean.[2] This came at a time when abolitionist sentiment was growing amongst the British public.

Beechey was a noted portraitist and member of the Royal Academy. It is in the collection of Tate Britain in London, having been acquired in 1993.[3]

References

  1. ^ Morrison p.85
  2. ^ Grint p.142
  3. ^ https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/beechey-portrait-of-sir-francis-fords-children-giving-a-coin-to-a-beggar-boy-t06734

Bibliography

  • Grint, Keith. A Cartography of Resistance: Leadership, Management, and Command. Oxford University Press, 2024.
  • Morrison, Tessa. Unbuilt Utopian Cities 1460 to 1900: Reconstructing their Architecture and Political Philosophy. Routledge,2016.
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