Fisherman's Cottage, 1810 (w/c on wove paper)

Family love is the subject of this picture. The gestures of affection include the mother gazing fondly at her baby, and the boy helping his grandmother. The open Bible at the front of the picture shows that the family is religious. This was an important mark of respectability in the early 19th century. Fish hanging up to dry and a boat in the background suggest that the father is a hardworking fisherman. This w/c is probably the picture entitled 'Domestic Happiness' that Thomas Heaphy exhibited in London in 1810. Heaphy's pictures were extremely popular;