Haymakers

The Liverpool-born artist Stubbs was deeply interested in the sciences. Best known as a horse painter, the illustrations in his book 'The Anatomy of the Horse' amazed the western world. He also followed the new technology of the Industrial Revolution in search of a way of painting that would be more permanent than oil on canvas. He saw that enamels, which are mixtures of coloured glass, fired at high temperatures would last much better and keep their colour. In 1782, Stubbs first exhibited five of his enamel paintings on Wedgwood tablets. They did not prove popular with artists or critics. Two years later, Wedgwood made 24 large tablets for Stubbs. Only four survived being fired in the kiln and Stubbs did not paint on these until the mid-1790s. 'Haymakers' and 'Haycarting' are two of these four tablets and are now considered great treasures. The rural peasant subject matter was extremely fashionable with collectors throughout Europe in the last quarter of the 18th century. Marie Antionette and her ladies played milkmaid at Versailles, Goya included rural sports in tapestry designs for the Spanish crown, and Gainsborough painted narratives of peasants at cottage doors. Stubbs's approach was less romantic, portraying a rather matter-of-fact, albeit reasonably prosperous, farming group at work.