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A Children's Tea Party

HOGARTH, William (1697 - 1764)

A Children's Tea Party

Date: 1730

Media: oil on canvas

Size: 64.3 x 76.5 cm

Acquired: 1988; Gift; Accepted by H.M. Government in lieu of inheritance tax

Accession Number: NMW A 94

This composition depicts the same children as those in its pendant except that the elder boy is absent. The broken capital behind the drum-playing small boy and the mirror held by his sister are symbols of vanity and decay. At the right, a spaniel upsets the tea table presided over by the two elder girls and their doll. This imagery and the wreath of flowers draped round the garden vase, reminiscent of a funeral urn, may indicate that there has been a death in the family.

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