The Dyson Children

John Downman

1787 · Chalk, graphite and watercolor · Drawings and Prints

Downman here portrays a baby in a wheeled cart tugging at a kite held by one of two older boys. These are probably the children of Jeremiah Dyson (1757-1835), clerk of the House of Commons, who married Elizabeth Collins in 1781. Their grandfather, Jeremiah Dyson (1722-1776), was Lord of the Treasury and Privy Counsellor to George III, and old labels on the back of the frame that once contained this drawing identify the sitters as his children. This could not be possible if the drawing dates to 1787, because Jeremiah senior died in 1776 and his wife in 1769, while the oldest child here appears to be under six years old.

Artist

John Downman

Date

1787

Medium

Chalk, graphite and watercolor

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Bequest of Mary Stillman Harkness, 1950