page_title: Jane Maria Bowkett
section_title: Feminist interpretation of examples of Jane Maria Bowkett's work
hierarchical_section_title: Jane Maria Bowkett / Feminist interpretation of examples of Jane Maria Bowkett's work
caption_attribution_description: English: A photograph from an auction catalogue of a painting by Jane Maria Bowkett (1837-1891). Signed with a monogram (lower right). Oil on canvas. It was originally titled ‘Preparing Tea’ and thought to have been painted in the 1860s. It was retitled ‘Time for tea’ at the auction in 2011.
context_page_description: Jane Maria Bowkett was a British traditional Victorian genre painter who worked primarily in oils. Her work has been described as follows 'Jane Maria painted mainly delightful, slightly naive pictures of women and children, either interiors, or often beach scenes'. She managed, however, to establish a successful career as a professional artist in a male dominated occupation. It has been suggested that in some paintings, she created scenes that were ambiguous by refusing to depict women as models of moral virtue, and depicting mothers and children as being content regardless of a male presence. It is also suggested that the painting Young Lady in a Conservatory makes social commentary on the moral restrictions placed upon women as the subject is seen in a small conservatory with minimal room to move.
context_section_description: An example of Bowkett's work which has been subject to feminist interpretation is Preparing Tea (or Time for tea as it had been retitled when sold for £2000 at Christie's South Kensington on 16 March 2011). This painting shows a woman, presumably a wife and mother, spreading jam on toast as she gazes out the window while one of her children is toasting bread by a fire and the other child is carrying a pair of men's slippers. It has been suggested that Bowkett leaves some ambiguity in the facial expression of the mother as she sees her husband's train approaching in the distance.  And that this piece depicted the ability of women and children alike to be happy without having to rely on a male presence.  This critic also suggests that Bowkett's work combined concepts of everyday life, idealized domestic scenes, and ideals of motherhood in which she refused to depict women as being models of domestic virtue. This interpretation is suggested to be demonstrated in some of her other works where Bowkett depicts women bothering themselves with their home duties and not fulfilling expectations that were set for them. The critic concludes that by disrupting the interaction between form and content, Bowkett is able to leave moral ambiguity in her work.
  It has been suggested that Bowkett saw conservatories as a form of artificial paradise.  The painting Young Lady in a Conservatory (1870-1880) depicts a young woman in a conservatory tending to a lily in a large pot. Around her are various other plants such as fuchsias, pelargoniums, and ferns. It has been further suggested that this work depicts a sense of enclosure and makes social commentary about the moral restrictions set out for middle class women at this time (1870-1880) and that the protruding stamens on the lily add a reference to a sexual awakening which ties back to the concepts of moral restrictions.
caption: 'Preparing Tea'. Jane Maria Bowkett (1837-1891). Signed with a monogram. Oil on canvas.
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