Mary Hayllar

Christopher Wood, London
Christopher Forbes (purchased from the above in 1989; sale: Christie's, London, 20 February 2003, lot 262)
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

Mary Wells, née Hayllar, was one from the remarkable daughters of the successful artist James Hayllar. Hayllar had nine children, four sons and five daughters, four of which became professional artists under his tutelage and guidance; Mary, Edith, Kate and Jessica. Like her sisters she delighted in painting the domestic life of her parent’s home, Castle Priory in Wallingford in the Berkshire countryside. She particularly favoured scenes with tea-tables laid out with enticing treats, comparable examples painted in the same year as For a Good Boy include The Tennis Party (sold in these rooms, 12 July 2007, lot 6) where the fare is very lavish and the more modest Breakfast also from the same year (Bonhams, London, 1 March 2017, lot 49). Despite considerable talent Mary was the least prolific of the sisters and her work is therefore rare. She only exhibited handful of pictures at the Royal Academy from 1880 to 1885. It seems that she ceased painting after her marriage to Henry Wells in 1887 when she devoted herself to raising their children.

For a Good Boy was included in the famous collection of Victorian paintings owned by the Forbes Magazine Collection and housed at Old Battersea House, along with examples by all of her sisters.