Cristall OWS, Joshua (1767 – 1847) – ‘Phoebe Dawson’.
Cristall OWS, Joshua (1767 - 1847)
'Phoebe Dawson'.
Watercolour. Signed and dated, 1821. Exhibited: Old Watercolour Society, 1821, No.119. Literature: Basil Taylor, 'Joshua Cristall', V&A Exhibition Catalogue, 1975, See Cat. Nos. 261 and 262; John Tisdall, 'Joshua Cristall: In Search of Arcadia', 1996, pp.51-57.
This exhibition piece, based on a sketch of 1816 (Hereford Museum), illustrates part of George Crabbe's 1807 poem The Parish Register in which Phoebe Dawson is seduced and cruelly abandoned. This work shows her on her way to Lammas Fair, 'In haste to see and happy to be seen'. A second watercolour exhibited alongside this shows Phoebe 'whose cares are growing and whose hopes are fled' gathering water with her new child in her arms.
This work appears in the Exhibition:
British Works on Paper 2026 (Incl. David Bindman Collection)