George Lambert. The Maid, 1915
Servants made up 16% of the national work force in 1891, on another hand, the average length of service in a home was not even a year and a half.
Félix Vallotton (1865-1925)
Apart from reasons of status there was a lot of work to be done in a house - there was no electricity yet, nor dishwashers, nor vacuum cleaners, everything was done by hand from cleaning the carpets to washing the dishes. And a fancy dinner for 15 guests could generate more than 500 items to be washed afterwards.
Henry Caro-Delvaille. Tea Time
Multi-layered womens clothes in the mid century would be changed several times a day from morning gown and walking dress to formal evening dress and they ahd to be cleaned by hand. If there were guests in the house, a servant would have to attend to their rooms at least 4 times a day - to draw the curtains in the morning and bring hot water for washing before breakfast, to bring fresh water at noon and before 7 in the evening for washing before dinner, then before bedtime to prepare the bed and close the windows.
George Washington Lambert. Lottie and the Lady
Not a Victorian gentleman or a lady would ever think of doing it themselves, that was a whole point of being a lady - you gave orders to the servants what to do. Manual labor of any kind (except for embroidery and painting) would've put in doubt your eligibility to be received in polite society.Joseph Decamp The Blue Cup, 1858-1923
A small household could afford one maid, who cooked, cleaned, looked after the children, doing all the work; in a bigger household of a professional man like a doctor there would be a cook, a housemaid and a nurse, and in a still grander households male servants would be needed. In a great household the servants could amount to a small army. The Duke of Westminster had 50 indoor servants at Eaton Hall.
Joseph deCamp. The Steward aka Lewis of the Porcellian, 1919
The male staff was supervised by the butler and the female staff was presided over by a housekeeper who were usually in charge of firing and hiring the servants. The butler took care of the wine cellar, family silverware, and ironing the master's morning newspapers (the ink on the newspapers in the 19th century was still tacky when they were delivered). The housekeeper, beside supervising the maids work, made preserves, ordered and kept household accounts, saw to the tea and coffee, and was responsible for the household linen.
Franck Antoine Bail, A Maid Watering Flowers
Konstantin Yegorovich Makovsky
Those who stayed on service for years preferred the security of the job, the chance for pension after the years of service, the possibility of travel. (reading What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew by Daniel Pool)
See also London. Society and the Season
Edgar Degas
Henry Robert Morland. A Laundry Maid Ironing
Charles Frederic Ulrich Washerwomen
George Dunlop Leslie. Her First Place
Mary Hayllar. Helping Gardener
Alphonse Gaudefroy. A Moment Aside
Theophile Louis Deyrolle. Picking flowers
Carl Larsson
Franck Antoine. Bail Two Milkmaids, 1906
Abraham Solomon
Adrien de Boucherville. The Lost Supper
John George Brown. The Little Servant
Combing My Lady's Tresses by Jean Baptiste Beranger
David Emile Joseph de Noter (1818-1892), A Maid In The Kitchen
Conti Tito, The Secret Admirer
John Finnie, Maids of All Work
George Dunlop Leslie - Afternoon tea, 1865
Joseph Caraud, The Levee
Joseph Caraud. Sharing the Chocolate
Joseph Caraud
Le Lever by Michel-Nicolas-Bernard Lépicié, 1773
Pierre Outin, Les Bonbons de Madame
Willem Joseph Laquy (1738-1798) - A Scullery Maid Preparing A Chicken
Auguste Toulmouche, An Afternoon Idyll
Gustave Courbet
Gabriel Metsu
Pierre August Renoir 1880
Konstantin Yegorovich Makovsky
Thank you very much. Great article. As far as i know, there was also no big difference in 19 th century germany until first world war.
ReplyDeleteI'm almost sure it was all the same in Germany, France, Italy..
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback!
Lovely paintings.
ReplyDeleteLOVE your blog!!
ReplyDeleteExcellent presentation and fascinating little insights!
I hope it's okay with you for me to pin to Pinterest!
Ann Nelson
wonderfull paintings
ReplyDelete