Philip Mercier

Private collection;

Inherited by the present owner's mother in 1964.

Another version of The Oyster Girl by Philip Mercier, previously in Sir Albert Edward Richardson's collection, was completed sometime between 1750 and 1755.¹ Mercier frequently depicted scenes of domestic life in England, created in response to the increasing fascination with London's working class. The scenes often echoed Hogarth's exploration of the subject in the second quarter of the 18^th century and would later increase in popularity through Francis Wheatley's Cries of London, which were exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1792 and 1795.

¹ J. Ingamells and R. Raines, 'A catalogue of the paintings, drawings and etchings of Philip Mercier', in The Walpole Society, XLVI, London 1978, pp. 43–44, no. 164, reproduced pl. 11a.