The peasant figures are unglamorised in their toil, giving a foretaste of the realism that was to be adopted by Stubbs's followers and imitators. Gainsborough, his contemporary, was still painting romantically-idealized pastoral scenes at that period. This purchase was the result of a dramatic campaign to 'save' a work of art for the nation. A public appeal was launched and Tate started a series of lotteries, permissible under the new regulations on fund raising. The Tate was the first public gallery to raise money in this way.

Provenance

Major John Lycett Wills