Shrimpers

ca. between 1785 and 1789

Thomas Gainsborough English, 1727-1788

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About the Artwork

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Markings

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Provenance

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Exhibition History

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

Title Shrimpers

Artwork Date ca. between 1785 and 1789

Artist Thomas Gainsborough

Life Dates 1727-1788

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. English

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Black chalk and gray wash on light tan laid paper

Dimensions Sheet: 10 3/4 × 14 1/2 inches (27.3 × 36.8 cm) Framed: 19 × 22 1/2 × 1 5/8 inches (48.3 × 57.2 × 4.1 cm)

Classification Drawings

Department Prints, Drawings & Photographs

Credit Founders Society Purchase, William H. Murphy Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 34.113

Markings

Inscriptions Inscribed, in brown crayon, lower conter of mount: THE SHRIMPERS Inscribed, in pen and black ink, lower left of mount: 120 (by W. Esdaile) Inscribed, in pencil, lower edge of mount: The Shrimpers. This is probably the original sketch for Gainsboroug's picture lately in the collection at Leigh Court but is now in the / National Gallery Inscribed, in pen and brown ink, lower center of mount: Gainsborough (by W. Esdaile) Inscribed, in pencil, upper left of mount, verso:[cut off] i Colle [cut off] / Exhibited Ipswich / Brussels Inscribed, in pencil, upper right of mount, verso:Sketch of [indecipherable] / Picture National Gal. Inscribed, in pencil, lower right of mount, verso:copy pink & Llue (sic. inverted) Inscribed, in pen and brown ink, lower left of mount, verso: 1825 WE____Baker's Sale N120 (by W. Esdaile) Inscribed, in pen and brown ink, lower center of mount, verso: Gainsborough (by W. Esdaile)

Marks Stamp, in brown, lower right: Esdaile (Lugt 2617)

Provenance

1785- 1825?, Gainsborough family

1825, George Baker (London, England)

June 16, 1825, sold by (Sotheby's, London, England) no. 359

[as Studies, Group of Female Figures] Thane (London, England) (note in annotated catalogue of Baker sale, British Museums scs 144 (5) microfilmed by University Microfilms, Ann Arbor)

William Esdaile (London, England)

March 20-21, 1838, sold by (Christie's, London, England) probably Esdaile sale. by 1903, Arthur Kay (Edinburgh, Scotland)

May 23, 1930, sold by (Christie's, London, England)

(P. & D. Colnaghi and Co., London, England)

1934-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Bicentenary Memorial Exhibition of Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. Exh. cat., Ipswich Museum. Ipswich, England, 1927, no. 136 (as The Shrimp Girls).

Catalogue of a Selection of Studies and Drawings by Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. Exh. cat., P. and D. Colnaghi and Co. London, 1906, cat. no. 72 (as Studies of Figures: 'The Shrimp Girls' and Bust of a Girl in Profile).

"Exhibition of English Art of the 18th and 19th Centuries." Typescript checklist, Detroit Institute of Arts, Alger House Branch. Detroit, 1938 (as Shrimpers).

Exposition Rétrospective de Peinture Anglaise (XVIIIe et XIXe Siècles). Exh. cat., Musée Moderne. Brussels, 1929, no. 70 (as Pêcheuses de Crevettes).

Gower, Ronald Sutherland. Thomas Gainsborough. London, 1903, opp. p. 22 (ill.) (as Drawing for 'The Shrimp Girls').

Hayes, John. The Drawings of Thomas Gainsborough. New Haven, 1970, vol.1: pp. 52, 97, 101, 305-06, no. 844; vol. 2: (pl. 228).

Hayes, John. "Gainsborough Drawings: A Supplement to the Catalog Raisonne." Master Drawingss 21, 4 (Winter 1983): pp. 367-391, 379.

Italian, French, English, and Spanish Drawings and Watercolors: Sixteenth Through Eighteenth Centuries. New York, 1992, pp. 242-243, no. 115.

Newberry Jr., John S. Loan Exhibition of Old Master Drawings from Midwest Museums. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1950, no. 15 (as The Shrimp Girls).

"Rearrangements of the Museum's Collections." Bulletin of the DIA 14, 4 (1934): p. 30 (ill.) (as Shrimp Girls).

Scheyer, Ernst. Drawings and Miniatures from the XII to XX Century. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1936, no. 116 (ill.) (as Shrimp Girls).

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Thomas Gainsborough, Shrimpers, ca. between 1785 and 1789, black chalk and gray wash on light tan laid paper. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, William H. Murphy Fund, 34.113.