Art Collections Online

The Jones Family Conversation Piece

HOGARTH, William (1697 - 1764)

Date: 1730

Media: oil on canvas

Size: 72.0 x 91.8 cm

Acquired: 1996; Purchase; National Heritage Memorial Fund / National Art Collections Fund

Accession Number: NMW A 3978

This work was commissioned in 1730 by Robert Jones (1706-42) of Fonmon Castle, in Glamorgan. He stands at the right, with his sisters Mary and Elizabeth, and his younger brother Oliver. His widowed mother Mary is shown in dark blue, with her spaniel. The peasant boy struggling with a monkey strikes an ironic contrast with the decorous family group. Jones was Sheriff for Glamorgan in 1729 and became friendly with John Wesley. Hogarth's informal composition and delicate handling are indebted to Philip Mercier, court painter to Frederick, Prince of Wales.

Comments (10)

Comments are currently unavailable. We apologise for the inconvenience.
Marc Haynes Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales Staff
6 May 2021, 15:02

Dear all,

Here is a link to a large-format digital reproduction of this painting. The lustily cavorting couple can be found atop a haystack, above the boy struggling with a monkey.

Best wishes,

Marc
Digital Team

Catherine Taylor
1 April 2021, 10:12
Dear Graham,
I work at Fonmon Castle and would also be very interested in showing the lustily cavorting couple to the current owner.
Jerry Bell
13 October 2020, 19:37
Nia,
I wonder if you could contact the Art Dept again and ask if I could also have a larger copy of the Jones family so that I could see the detail that everyone is talking about!
Yours
Jerry
Jerry Bell
6 August 2020, 15:03
Nia
Thanks so much for getting back to me. I will look forward to getting an email from someone in your department. And I will so look forward to visiting your wonderful gallery again when all this is over!
Stay safe and wash your hands!
Cheers,
Jerry
Nia Evans Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales Staff
10 July 2020, 11:33

Hi Jerry,

Thank you for getting in touch with us, I have passed your request to my colleagues within the Art department. They will be in touch to advise further. Just so that you're aware, a number of our staff members are currently on furlough, so it may take a little longer than usual for us to get back to you.

Kind regards,

Nia
(Digital team)

Jerry Bell
9 July 2020, 20:18
I am also doing a talk on Hogarth and would love the same detail ('a couple is portrayed lustily cavorting on top of a haystack'). Could you send me the file as well.
Thanks in advance,
Jerry
Patrick Welland
9 February 2016, 02:00
Dear Mr Davies,

I deeply apologise for being so late in replying. Your kind reply to my appeal for help must have slipped into my junk folder which I, foolishly, rarely check. In fact, as the folder automatically deletes items after a certain time, it is not even there now. I found your response by the entirely different route of Googling up my own name to check on something quite unrelated. I would be very grateful if you could send me the cropped image to the email address above. I fear you must have thought me most impolite.

Regards,

Patrick Welland
8 January 2016, 12:22

Dear Mr Welland,
I now have a high resolutions close up available of the section in question. If you reply to this comment and leave your email address in the appropriate field then I will be able to send you the cropped image for you to view.
Many thanks,
Graham Davies
Digital Media Team

4 January 2016, 09:53
Dear Mr Welland, thank you for your enquiry. I have passed this onto our art department who will be in touch in due course.
Many thanks,
Graham
Digital Media Team
3 January 2016, 12:32
Dear Sir/Madam, in March I am to give a 2hr WEA talk in Lewes, East Sussex, on Hogarth. Researching for same, I understand that in the far background of this picture a couple is portrayed lustily cavorting on top of a haystack. Yet it is impossible to discern. Is there any image of this detail in close-up, which I thought might amuse my audience? I fear not, but just thought I'd ask. Regards, Patrick Welland
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