Bubbles | John Everett Millais | V&A Search the Collections Download PDF version This is a presentation plate of a reproduction of a painting of his grandson by Sir John Everett Millais (1829–1896). Thomas J. Barratt (1842-1914) of A. & F. Pears bought the painting by Millais in 1886. He then reproduced it as a print, which became known as ‘Bubbles’. Barratt devised a series of expensive and original publicity schemes for Pears, the most famous of which was the adaptation of this painting as an advertisement for Pears Soap, with the addition of a bar of Pears Soap in the lower right corner. He also promoted art through the pages of Pears Annual (published 1890-1921, and price six pence until 1915). Presentation plates such as this one were given away as a separate package with the Pears Annual. 'Artistic’ advertising such as this appeared in the UK in the 1880s initially characterised by the use of reproductions of works of art. T. J.

Barratt was particularly keen to use the work of Royal Academicians, in order to add kudos and respectability to his product and so target middle-income customers. . Physical description Chromolithographed presentation print after the painting 'A Child's World' by Sir John Everett Millais, featuring a young child playing with bubbles. Place of Origin John Everett Millais, born 1829 - died 1896 (artist) A. & F. Pears Ltd. (publisher) Materials and Techniques Chromolithograph on paper Marks and inscriptions 'BUBBLES. / From the Original Painting by the late Sir John E. Millais Bt. President of the Royal Academy / in the possession of Messrs. Pears.' 'JM 1886' Height: 94.8 cm, Width: 63.8 cm Object history note The original painting was entitlerd 'A Child's World' and the model was Sir John Everett Millais' grandson. (Information from Terry Parker, a collector/dealer and expert on Pears advertising, via Archivist at Unilever).

"'Bubbles' was exhibited at Tooth & Sons Gallery, 5 and 6 Haymarket, London, Spring 1886 no. 118. Sir Ingram, head of the Illustrated London News bought it from there to reproduce as one of four presentation plates given away with the Illustrated London News, Christmas 1886. Thomas Barrat saw the painting in his office and immediately decided to buy it. Ingram agreed as long as they could still reproduce it in ILN Christmas edition 1886, which obviously pre-dates A&F Pears presentation prints given away with the 1897 Annual. (The ILN version is smaller I believe and inferior print quality). Terry has come across one earlier A&F print which may have been a trial run, dated 1894. All of these were without the soap bar. The image was so successful that it was later used in dozens of different formats from postcards and showcards to billboard posters, with the addition of the bar of soap and A&F Pear logo." Descriptive line 'Bubbles'.

Chromolithographed presentation print after the painting 'A Child's World' by Sir John Everett Millais (1886), featuring a young child playing with bubbles. Issued by A.& F. Pears Ltd., manufacturers of Pears' soap, Great Britain, post-1896. Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no) Summary Catalogue of British Posters to 1988 in the Victoria & Albert Museum in the Department of Design, Prints & Drawing. Emmett Publishing, 1990. 129 p. ISBN: 1 869934 12 1 Labels and date Millais' paintings of children were some of the most reproduced images of the 19th century. A. & F. Pears produced this print to advertise soap.

The fact that both subject matter and artist were popular with middle class viewers lent kudos and respectability to the product [] Materials "Millais": Review of the 2007-8 Exhibition at Tate Britain "Millais": Review of the 2007-8 Exhibition at Tate Britain Antoine Capet , FRHistS, Professor and Head of British Studies at the University of Rouen [ Home —> Visual Arts —> Painting —> Pre-Raphaelites —> John Everett Millais (1829-96) —> Reviews of books and exhibitions ] This review originally appeared on H-Net (Humanities and Social Sciences Online) , and has been adapted and reformatted for our website, and illustrated, by Jacqueline Banerjee . [You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the source and (2) link your document to this URL or credit the Victorian Web in a print one. Click on the images to enlarge them, and for more information where available.] Introduction Ophelia, by John Everett Millais (1851).

Past visitors to the Tate Gallery , as it was then known, will be familiar with the archetypal Millais which seems to be on permanent display, Ophelia, "the most popular painting at Tate Britain." Indeed, such is the association between Millais, Ophelia and the Tate that this painting provides the cover photograph for the useful booklet given to visitors, for the Press pack and also for the accompanying catalogue — besides forming the background to the Exhibition poster. Naturally, there is more to Sir John Everett Millais (1829-1896) than Ophelia (1851), and Tate Britain has organized a long-awaited retrospective, the first since 1967 (at the Royal Academy) and, the Press release indicates, "the first exhibition since 1898 to examine the entirety of the artist's career" — notably because it includes a large group of his late Scottish landscapes. It is naturally impossible to discuss here all the 140 paintings and works on paper which are featured, but the exemplary website pages devoted to the Exhibition give illustrations of all the major works displayed, with excellent explanatory notes.

Millais and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood Left: Christ in the House of His Parents (1849-50). Right: Lorenzo and Isabella, or just Isabella (1848-49). Not unexpectedly, the first room concentrates on Pre-Raphaelitism , since the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was founded in John Millais's parents' house in 1848. Among the other future celebrities present were William Holman Hunt and Dante Gabriel Rossetti . If Pre-Raphaelitism can best be described in opposition to Academicism or, as the Minneapolis Institute of Arts defines it on its website, a "style which advocated a return to serious subjects and naturalistic representation, and emphasized accuracy of detail and color", then the precocious work of Millais did not adumbrate his future Pre-Raphaelite militancy. The Exhibition has a magnificently Academic Pizarro seizing the Inca of Peru (1846 — admittedly painted when he was only sixteen). Technically, the first painting to be explicitly presented in the context of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was Isabella (1848–9).

Together with Christ in the House of His Parents (The Carpenter's Shop) (1849-50), these paintings established Millais's reputation as a provocateur, the former because of its overt rejection of Academicism, the latter for reasons which ring all sorts of familiar bells today. The more bigoted Protestants saw the scene as having inacceptable Roman Catholic tendencies and the general religiosity of the time was averse to realistic depiction of Jesus Christ. With The Eve of St Agnes (1850) and Mariana (1850-1), Millais deliberately infringed the conventions of the time by associating erotic desire with "respectable women." The superb contemporary portraits shown (Portrait of a Gentleman and his Grandchild (James Wyatt and his Granddaughter, Mary Wyatt), 1849; Mrs James Wyatt Jr and her Daughter Sarah, 1850; Thomas Combe, 1850) apparently did little to compensate for the scandalous nature of his other works — and yet, paradoxically, the Royal Academy never refused to exhibit them. Millais: "Romance and Modern Genre" Left: The Black Brunswicker (1860).

Right: The Blind Girl (1856). Room 2, on "Romance and Modern Genre" is largely devoted to his next field of exploration, that of figure painting with a historical dimension, often depicting the conflict between love and patriotic or religious duty. We thus have A Huguenot, on St. Bartholomew's Day, refusing to shield himself from Danger by wearing the Roman Catholic Badge (1851-2, on the massacre of French Protestants by Roman Catholic mobs on 24 August 1572); The Order of Release, 1746 (1852-3, on the last Jacobite Rebellion); The Proscribed Royalist, 1651 (1852-3, on the English Civil War); Peace Concluded, 1856 (1856, on the ending of the Crimean War); The Escape of a Heretic, 1559 (1857, on the Spanish Holy Inquisition); and The Black Brunswicker (1859-60, on the Battle of Waterloo).

Only six years separate The Order of Release, 1746 from Pizarro seizing the Inca of Peru, and yet these two "historical scenes" are light-years apart — or so they appear to be to the non-specialist of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Room 2 also contains the well known picture of The Blind Girl (1854-6), in all its glorious colour (the girl's red hair!), impossible to render even with the best modern techniques of reproduction. Millais and Aestheticism Left: Spring (1856-9). Right: The Vale of Rest (Where the weary find repose) (1858). Aestheticism. The curators (Alison Smith, Curator at Tate Britain, and Jason Rosenfeld, Associate Professor at Marymount Manhattan College, New York) explain their choice of this term in a very convincing wall text. Millais's evolution is perfectly encapsulated in the difference which one perceives between Spring (1856-9), with its arguably archetypal characteristics of Pre-Raphaelitism, and The Vale of Rest (Where the weary find repose) (1858).

We are therefore not surprised to see the continuation of this evolution towards "The Grand Tradition" in the next room, with classical Biblical subjects (and also with a tendency to classical treatment?) like Esther (1863-5) or Jephthah (1867). Fortunately, the curators provide their modern de-Christianised visitors with the essential information on these Old Testament subjects — but few members of the public seemed to be interested. In contrast, the two assassinated sons of Edward IV in The Princes in the Tower (1878) continue to speak to the crowds (it was hardly possible to approach some of the pictures, let alone the captions, when I was there — this is of course the ambivalent ransom of success for all museum authorities). The patriotic scenes, The Boyhood of Raleigh (1869-70) and The North-West Passage (1874), do not arouse the same enthusiasm as when they were first exhibited. We must bear the Imperial context in mind: Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India in 1877 as the culmination of Disraeli's efforts to revive interest in the Empire, largely neglected by his Liberal rivals.

Few visitors today will look at these pictures with the Imperial pride which they both assumed and enhanced. That the former young rebels of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood now appeared as supporters of the Conservative Imperial dream was of course highly ironical. Millais' Fancy Pictures Bubbles (1865-66). As a total contrast to his "Imperialist" pictures, Millais produced the "Fancy Pictures" of Room 5. A wall text conveniently explains what the phrase means in art history: "The 'fancy picture' first came into existence during the eighteenth century and can be described as genre painting where the sentiment takes precedence over evolved narrative." The archetypal work in this category is the celebrated Bubbles (1866). The original was not often seen until recently, but it is now on long loan to the Lady Lever Art Gallery , whose website usefully retraces the history of the painting, indirectly explaining why Millais was blamed for his commercialism (one more inexcusable sin for the idealists of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood of his young days): Bubbles will be forever linked with washing and cleanliness because it was used to advertise Pears' soap.

Owner of the painting Unilever has granted the Lady Lever a long-term loan. In many people's minds the painting is also associated with the song "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles," anthem of Cup Finalists West Ham FC since the 1920s when the song was a hit. Painted by Pre-Raphaelite artist Sir John Everett Millais in 1886 and his best-known work, Bubbles was originally called A Child's World. It shows the artist's grandson William James dressed in a Little Lord Fauntleroy-style velvet costume with a ruffled collar. The painting was bought by A. and F. Pears and the managing director, Thomas Barrett, turned it into an advertisement by adding a bar of soap in the foreground. It was a brilliant masterstroke and the painting is today still associated with the product. Lever Brothers acquired A & F Pears in 1914 and subsequently the company became part of the Unilever Group. Pears was retained as a separate brand and Unilever kept Bubbles at its global headquarters on the banks of the Thames. Millais' Portraits Left: The Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, MP (1885).

Right: Portrait of the Painter (1880). Entering the impressively large Room 6, one is immediately fascinated by the reconstruction of Millais's studio, including the actual 18th century armchair used by his wealthy sitters and his large studio easel (his palette, brushes and oils are also on display). This is the room devoted to the "Portraits" which made him a very rich man — and one understands why when one sees that it features two Prime Ministers (The Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, MP, 1878-9 and Benjamin Disraeli, The Earl of Beaconsfield, KG, 1881); a banker's daughter and marchioness (The Marchioness of Huntly, 1870); a banker's wife (Mrs.

Bischoffsheim, 1872-3); a fashionable actor (Henry Irving, Esq, 1883); a future successful actress (A Jersey Lily [Lillie Langtry]; 1877-8) and two famous authors (Thomas Carlyle, 1877, and Alfred Tennyson, 1881) besides his self-portrait (Portrait of the Painter, 1880, commissioned by the Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, to be hung in its Collezione degli Autoritratti next to Velázquez, Bernini and Dürer) and those of his wife and some of his children. Millais' Late Landscapes Dew-drenched Furze (1890): one of Millais's remarkable late Highland landscapes. Few people must have seen the originals of the twelve paintings of the Highlands of Perthshire which form the theme of the final room, "The Late Landscapes," because they are widely dispersed.

If Scotch Firs: "The silence that is in the lonely woods" (1873, a quotation from Wordsworth) arguably reminds the viewer of Millais's Pre-Raphaelite manner, the caption of "Blow, blow, thou winter wind" (1892, a quotation from As You Like It) informs us that it is "one of the artist's rare paintings dealing with contemporary social ills" (a man abandoning his family). And when the caption of the stupendously gorgeous large painting, The Sound of Many Waters (1876) tells us that "in this mature work he effectively conveyed the features of volcanic rock without the meticulousness of Pre-Raphaelitism," we wonder what the result would have been if he had displayed "the meticulousness of Pre-Raphaelitism." The free visitor's booklet [had] a map of the locations (near the River Tay) where these landscapes were painted — an excellent idea. References "Artwork Highlights — Bubbles by Sir John Everett Millais." National Museums Liverpool. Web. 6 April 2014. [Note: this entry differs somewhat from the one quoted above.] Millais: Tate Britain: Exhibition . Web.

6 April 2014. Rosenfeld, Jason and Alison Smith. Millais. London : Tate, 2007. 272 pp. ISBN: 1854376675 (pbk.); 1854377469 (hbk.) (exhibition catalogue, shown right). Artwork details, Liverpool museums See a larger version About the artwork One of the most famous paintings by the Victorian artist Sir John Millais has been placed on long loan at the Lady Lever Art Gallery. It has been lent by Unilever. 'Bubbles' was painted in 1885-6. It shows a boy blowing bubbles with a pipe and a bowl of soap suds. The boy was the artist’s grandson, Willie James, aged about four: he later became an Admiral. To get round the problems of painting the bubbles, the artist had a glass sphere specially manufactured. Millais originally titled his painting 'A Child’s World' but it was later changed to 'Bubbles'. As a young man, Millais was one of the chief artists in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood , which set out to attack the complacency of the Royal Academy.

He painted masterpieces such as 'Isabella' ( Walker Art Gallery ) and ' Ophelia ' ( Tate Britain ) in a new style with bright colours, wiry outlines and minute detail. By the time he painted 'Bubbles', Millais was in his 50s. He had abandoned the Pre-Raphaelite style and had adopted darker colours and looser brushwork. No longer a rebel, he had joined the Royal Academy and had become a pillar of the art establishment. Much of his work at this stage in his career featured sentimental portrayals of small children. Other examples, at the Lady Lever Art Gallery, are 'Little Speedwell’s Darling Blue' and 'The Nest'. Although 'Bubbles' may appear sentimental to modern taste, it has a serious meaning. Millais was using a symbol with a long tradition behind it. 'Bubbles' are fragile and have a brief moment of beauty before they burst. In the 17th century Dutch artists painted children blowing bubbles to convey the brevity of human life, the transience of beauty and the inevitability of death.

This theme appealed to Millais and is a key to several other of his paintings, such as ' Spring (Apple Blossoms) ' also at the Lady Lever Art Gallery. Amongst the beauty of the young girls and the spring flowers in this picture, Millais painted a scythe, to indicate that beauty fades and that death awaits us all. This aspect of 'Bubbles' was not obvious to the Victorians. Victorian artists associated childhood with sweetness and innocence. The attitude is seen in the book illustrations of Kate Greenaway and in historical pictures such as 'And when did you last see your father?' by W. F. Yeames (Walker Art Gallery). It had also been seen in the 18th century in pictures like ' The Age of Innocence ' (Tate Britain) by Sir Joshua Reynolds , who was much admired by Millais. The interpretation of childhood changed radically after Freud wrote about it as a troubled period of latent sexuality, but it would be unhistorical to expect Millais to reflect these ideas in his work. Listen to a recording of Julian Treuherz's gallery talk on 'Bubbles' online now .

The painting was brought from Millais by Sir William Ingram, proprietor of the Illustrated London News, a popular magazine with a wide circulation. Ingram also bought the copyright from the artist. He published 'Bubbles' as a special presentation colour print with the Christmas number of the magazine in 1887. (Other paintings of children by Millais had been published with previous Christmas numbers with great success.) Before its appearance in the magazine, the painting with its copyright was sold to A & F Pears, manufacturers of Pears soap. The Managing Director of Pears, Thomas Barrett, was a pioneer of modern advertising methods, and he and William Lever of Lever Brothers, makers of Sunlight Soap, were great rivals, each spending vast sums on promoting their brands. Barrett turned 'Bubbles' into an advertisement by adding a bar of soap in the foreground. Millais was furious, but he could do nothing about it. Millais was unfairly criticised for degrading his art, but as the copyright owner, Barrett was within his rights. And the use of the painting for advertising meant that the picture became the best known of all his works.

Lever responded to Barrett’s initiative in 1889 by purchasing ' The New Frock ' by Frith and using this to advertise Sunlight Soap, again without the artist’s permission. Frith’s painting and others used for Sunlight Soap advertising, are now part of the Lady Lever Art Gallery collection. In 1914 Lever Brothers acquired A & F Pears, and subsequently the company became part of the Unilever Group. Pears was retained as a separate brand and the company kept 'Bubbles' at its head office. It was recently on loan to the Royal Academy in London, and has now been transferred on long loan to the Lady Lever Art Gallery where it joins an already strong group of the artist’s works. Sisters by Sir John Millais sells for £2.3m (From Daily Echo) Sisters by Sir John Millais sells for £2.3m Show caption 1 comment IT is a charming portrait of three sisters that sold for just £4,000 in the 1970s. But now this painting, created by Southampton ’s greatest artist, has gone under the hammer again – fetching £2 million.

It is a new world auction record for a picture by Sir John Everett Millais. The extraordinary price for the 1868 painting is even more remarkable for only 42 years ago – at Christie’s in London on July 2,1971 – the same picture sold for just £4,410. The 42in square picture of Millais’ daughters, simply titled Sisters, came up for sale again at Christie’s in London, but this time it was snapped up by a mystery bidder for £2,301,875. That smashed the previous world auction record for a Millais work – a record which had stood for 14 years – by about £210,000. Before the auction, the world record for a Millais painting was £2,091,500, the sum paid at Christie’s in London on June 10, 1999, for an oil painting titled Sleeping. Millais’ admirers include multimillionaire Evita and Phantom of the Opera composer Lord Lloyd Webber, 65, who once described Millais as “a Mozart of fine art”.

In fact Lord Lloyd Webber, who is said to be worth £620m, is such a Millais fan that he owns nine oil paintings by the artist. Sir John Everett Millais – most famous for his painting Bubbles, which was used to advertise Pears Soap – was born in Portland Street, Southampton, on June 8, 1829, and was baptised at All Saints’ Church on December 27, 1829. Millais Road, in Southampton, is named after him. He was in his late 30s when, in 1868, he painted Sisters, which features his three daughters Mary, Effie and Carrie. Millais was 67 when he died on August 13, 1896, from throat cancer “almost certainly the result of pipe smoking”. He was buried at St Paul’s Cathedral, London, next to Britain’s greatest artist, JMW Turner.

Millais - AbeBooks Millais Results (1 - 30) of 2104 1 ISBN 10: 0856704466 ISBN 13: 9780856704468 Used Paperback Destination, Rates & Speeds Item Description: Academy Editions Ltd (a division of John Wiley and Sons Ltd.), 1979. Paperback. Book Condition: Used; Good. Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. This book is in good condition but will show signs of previous ownership. Please expect some creasing to the spine and/or minor damage to the cover. Aged book. Please note this book is over 20 years old. It will therefore have tanned pages, age spots and plenty of shelf wear. However, for its age it is still very useable, and a great read.

Bookseller Inventory # CHL1741230 ISBN 10: 0855030690 ISBN 13: 9780855030698 Used Paperback Destination, Rates & Speeds Item Description: Medici Society, 1983. Paperback. Book Condition: Used; Good. Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. This book is in good condition but will show signs of previous ownership. Please expect some creasing to the spine and/or minor damage to the cover.

Bookseller Inventory # CHL1753918 ISBN 10: 0847802310 ISBN 13: 9780847802319 Used First Edition ISBN 10: 0847802310 ISBN 13: 9780847802319 Used First Edition ISBN 10: 0847802310 ISBN 13: 9780847802319 Used First Edition ISBN 10: 1250016258 ISBN 13: 9781250016256 Used ISBN 10: 0847802310 ISBN 13: 9780847802319 Used First Edition More Information About This Seller | Ask Bookseller a Question 7.

Stock Image ISBN 10: 1843680343 ISBN 13: 9781843680345 New Paperback Destination, Rates & Speeds Item Description: Pallas Athene, United Kingdom, 2008. Paperback. Book Condition: New. New edition. 145 x 109 mm. Language: English . Brand New Book. Reprinted for the first time since 1889, this is the first biography and considered appraisal of one of England s most prodigiously talented painters. Sir John Everett Millais, P. R. A. (1829-1896) was the most precociously talented artist England has ever produced. His astonishing facility gained him entry as the Royal Academy s youngest ever pupil. At just 19 he founded with six other painters the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, which revolutionized the English art world with a visionary intensity of both subject matter and style.

Millais was its most creative member; as Jason Rosenfeld says in the introduction to this volume, the sheer quality and distinctness of each of Millais s paintings of the 1850s is unmatched by any Western artist of the period. Yet there is much more to Millais career than Pre-Raphaelitism. Some of the most emotive narrative paintings of the Victorian era, its greatest portraits, and especially some of its most beautiful, if neglected, landscapes, came from his brush--as did some of its most notoriously successful paintings, like Bubbles, the fancy picture that was made into an advertisement for Pears Soap.This volume includes not only Millais s only published work of art criticism, the pithy Thoughts on Our Art of Today, but also the first extended biography and appraisal of his work by the important critic M. H. Spielmann. This hugely engaging Sketch gives both a warm and personal picture of the man and a level-headed evaluation of the qualities--and defects--of his work as they appeared to contemporaries. Neither essay has been in print for more than a century.

Bookseller Inventory # AAO9781843680345 Destination, Rates & Speeds Item Description: Pallas Athene, United Kingdom, 2008. Paperback. Book Condition: New. New edition. 145 x 109 mm. Language: English . Brand New Book. Reprinted for the first time since 1889, this is the first biography and considered appraisal of one of England s most prodigiously talented painters. Sir John Everett Millais, P. R. A. (1829-1896) was the most precociously talented artist England has ever produced. His astonishing facility gained him entry as the Royal Academy s youngest ever pupil. At just 19 he founded with six other painters the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, which revolutionized the English art world with a visionary intensity of both subject matter and style. Millais was its most creative member; as Jason Rosenfeld says in the introduction to this volume, the sheer quality and distinctness of each of Millais s paintings of the 1850s is unmatched by any Western artist of the period.

Yet there is much more to Millais career than Pre-Raphaelitism. Some of the most emotive narrative paintings of the Victorian era, its greatest portraits, and especially some of its most beautiful, if neglected, landscapes, came from his brush--as did some of its most notoriously successful paintings, like Bubbles, the fancy picture that was made into an advertisement for Pears Soap.This volume includes not only Millais s only published work of art criticism, the pithy Thoughts on Our Art of Today, but also the first extended biography and appraisal of his work by the important critic M. H. Spielmann. This hugely engaging Sketch gives both a warm and personal picture of the man and a level-headed evaluation of the qualities--and defects--of his work as they appeared to contemporaries. Neither essay has been in print for more than a century. Bookseller Inventory # AAO9781843680345 Bubbles | John Everett Millais | V&A Search the Collections Download PDF version Thomas J. Barratt (1842-1914) of A. & F.

Pears bought a painting by Sir John Everett Millais (1829–1896) of his grandson in 1886. He then reproduced it as a print, which became known as ‘Bubbles’. In this version, a bar of soap and the name of the company were added to the image. Such ‘artistic’ advertising appeared in the UK in the 1880s. It was initially characterised by the use of reproductions of works of art, and ‘Bubbles’ was perhaps the most famous example. T. J. Barratt was particularly keen to use the work of Royal Academicians, in order to add kudos and respectability to his product and so target middle-income customers. Physical description Facsimile chromolithographed presentation print from a poster for Pears Soap featuring a child playing with bubbles, from a painting by Sir John Everett Millais, adapted by the addition of a bar of Pears Soap in the lower right corner. Place of Origin John Everett Millais, born 1829 - died 1896 (artist) A. & F. Pears Ltd.

(publisher) Materials and Techniques Chromolithograph on paper Marks and inscriptions Put this in your Scrap book / It cost £20,000 to produce the first editions, inclusive / of £20,000 for the original painting. / 'Bubbles' by Sir John E. Millais Bart. R.A. / A perfect facsimile in miniature. / The original is in the possession of Messrs. Pears. Dimensions Height: 22 cm, Width: 13.1 cm, Height: 16.7 cm image size, Width: 11.8 cm image size Object history note The original painting was entitled 'A Child's World' and the model was Sir John Everett Millais' grandson. (Information from Terry Parker, a collector/dealer and expert on Pears advertising, via Archivist at Unilever). "'Bubbles' was exhibited at Tooth & Sons Gallery, 5 and 6 Haymarket, London, Spring 1886 no. 118. Sir Ingram, head of the Illustrated London News bought it from there to reproduce as one of four presentation plates given away with the Illustrated London News, Christmas 1886.

Thomas Barrat saw the painting in his office and immediately decided to buy it. Ingram agreed as long as they could still reproduce it in ILN Christmas edition 1886, which obviously pre-dates A&F Pears presentation prints given away with the 1897 Annual. (The ILN version is smaller I believe and inferior print quality). Terry has come across one earlier A&F print which may have been a trial run, dated 1894. All of these were without the soap bar. The image was so successful that it was later used in dozens of different formats from postcards and showcards to billboard posters, with the addition of the bar of soap and A&F Pear logo." Descriptive line Facsimile presentation print of a poster advertising Pears Soap, from a painting by Sir John Everett Millais, 'Bubbles', colour lithograph; British; ca. 1889. Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no) Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1942, London: HMSO, 1955.

Materials After John Everett Millais / Pears Soap, Varnished After John Everett Millais / Pears Soap, Varnished Be the first to know about the latest online auctions. Please enter a valid email address (name@host.com) Sign Up » PS: We value your privacy Thank you! Invaluable cannot guarantee the accuracy of translations through Google Translate and disclaims any responsibility for inaccurate translations. Show translation options Log in or create account for price data » Description: After John Everett Millais / Pears Soap, Varnished Oleograph, 'Bubbles' , Bears facsimile monogram and date 1886 lower right, 27 1/2 x 19''. Condition Report: Please Note - we do not make reference to the condition of lots within catalogue descriptions. We are however happy to provide additional information regarding the condition of items on request. Notes: PAINTINGS & PRINTS Vintage Pears Soap Memorabilia Vintage Pears Soap Memorabilia 0 0 Pears transparent soap is a distinctive brand of soap that was initially created and sold by Andrew Pears in 1789. Andrew Pear’s branded soap was manufactured at a factory near London’s Oxford Street.

It was the world’s very first translucent soap product. Under the stewardship of Thomas J Barratt, A & F Pears Ltd. Company initiated a number of innovations in sales and marketing, producing a wealth of advertising items designed to promote the Pears product that are considered collectible today. Vintage Pears soap memorabilia includes advertisements, inserts, presentation prints, counter and outdoor signs, postcards and other assorted promotional items. Probably the most famous soap in Britain, if not the world, the Pears Soap brand has the potential to underpin a fascinating and diverse collection of ephemera. As the world’s first registered brand, Pears Soap is also considered the oldest continuously extant brand and its inception during the eighteenth century is often understood as marking the beginning of the modern capitalist era. Company history Andrew Pears, the son of a farmer, was born around 1770 and moved from his native Mevagissey in Cornwall to London in about 1787 in order to train as a barber. He completed his apprenticeship in 1789 and established a barber's shop in Gerrard Street, Soho, beginning to produce cosmetic products at around the same time.

During this period, Soho was a wealthy residential area, and Pears' clientele included many wealthy socialites who took great pride in their appearance. The fashion amongst the wealthy of the period was for pristine white complexions - tanned faces were associated with those who laboured out of doors. Pears found that his powders and creams were frequently being used to cover up damage caused by the harshness of the soaps and other beauty products (many of which contained arsenic or lead) that were in general use at the time. Pears began to experiment with soap purification and eventually managed to produce a gentle soap based on glycerine and other natural products. The clarity of the soap gave it a novel transparent appearance which provided a marketing advantage. To add to the appeal, Pears gave the soap an aroma reminiscent of an English garden. In 1835, his grandson Francis Pears joined the business and created the company A. & F. Pears Ltd. In 1838 Andrew Pears retired, leaving Francis in charge of the company. In 1851 the company was awarded the prize medal for soap at The Great Exhibition. Francis' son-in-law Thomas J.

Barratt, sometimes referred to as the father of modern advertising, eventually managed the firm. In 1862, production of the soap moved to Isleworth, and three years later Francis' son, Andrew, joined A. & F. Pears Ltd. as joint proprietor and ran the factory, whilst Thomas ran the head office in London. In the mid 1910s, A. & F. Pears Ltd. became part of Lever Brothers and moved production to Port Sunlight in north west England. Pears soap is now made in India by Hindustan Unilever a company in which Unilever controls a fifty-two percent stake. Background From the late 19th century, Pears soap was famous for its marketing, which was masterminded by Barratt. Its campaign using Millais's painting Bubbles continued over many decades. As with many other brands at the time, at the beginning of the 20th century Pears also used their product as a sign of the prevailing European concept of the "civilizing mission" of empire and trade, in which the soap stands for progress.

In the late 19th century, Pears used coins countermarked with "Pears Soap" as a way of advertising its soap. The coins used were manufactured in France and subsequently imported by Pears. About the same size and shape as the British pennies at the time, these French coins were generally accepted as pennies in Britain. Lillie Langtry's famous ivory complexion brought her income as the first woman to endorse a commercial product, advertising Pears Soap. Her fee was allied to her weight so she was paid 'pound for pound'. Between 1891 and 1925 Pears issued their famous annuals, which are now highly collectible. From the early 20th century Pears was famous for the annual "Miss Pears" competition in which parents entered their children into the high-profile hunt for a young brand ambassador to be used on packaging and in consumer promotions. Many Miss Pears subsequently entered acting or modelling. Beginning with 2003, a British company called Cert Brands is in charge of marketing and distribution of Pears soap. Collecting information Pears produced a raft of products designed to promote their brand, many of which are considered highly collectible today.

These include: Advertisements Hand towels Pears annuals and presentation prints From 1891 to 1925 Pears issued a large format Christmas Annual each year. It not only contained Christmas stories and advertisements but came complete with presentation prints. The annuals themselves are collectable but rare in that they've normally been broken up to yield collectable Pears ads and the cover design for framing. Presentation prints were produced in the early years by the chromolithographic process of paintings bought by Pears' for the purpose. They were given away free with the Christmas Annuals and were intended to be framed and hung on the wall. In some years, four or more different prints were given away with the annual, at other times two or three. Over the period of the annual some 100 prints were issued. These are all highly collectable, particularly those that are complete with the title. The most famous of them all, of course, is Bubbles by Millais, given away with the 1897 annual. Many Pears prints were turned into jigsaws between 1900 and 1920 by the people who had bought them and these can still be found occasionally.

Outdoor signs and counter cards Becoming increasingly rare are the outdoor metal signs and shop cards for the brand. (Beware, there are many imitations and reproductions of these and advertising mirrors.) Less expensive and more common are postcards of 'Bubbles' from the early 1900s. Inserts Pears inserts were found in almost every Victorian publication. They can still be picked up for a few pounds each. China figurines China figures, most notably of 'Bubbles' and 'You naughty boy', were manufactured and distributed in order to promote the product. These are considered collectible, but condition should be a key concern. Packaging Pears' Soap wrappers, bars and other assorted Pears' products, including shaving sticks, hair tonic, talcum powder, can still sometimes be found. Price guide A porcelain Pears soap advertising sign sold for $750 at Dan Morphy Auctions LLC in September 2005. An 1880s Pears soap sample box sold for AU$450 at Davidson Auctions in September 2007. An unmounted corner block of Pears soap stamps sold for £950 at Bonhams in April 2004.

A Pears soap advertising litho on paper featuring a Charles Dickens print sold for $190 at Rich Penn Auctions in November 2005. A frames Pears soap chromolithographic print sold for $60 at Skinner in April 2008. 2 vintage Pears soap paper advertisements sold for $30 at Classic Edge Auctions in November 2008. Bubbles (painting) - The Full Wiki The Full Wiki More info on Bubbles (painting) Wikis Note: Many of our articles have direct quotes from sources you can cite, within the Wikipedia article! This article doesn't yet, but we're working on it! See more info or our list of citable articles . From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Bubbles Lady Lever Art Gallery , Port Sunlight Bubbles, originally entitled A Child's World, is a painting by Sir John Everett Millais that became famous when it was used over many generations in advertisements for Pears soap . During Millais's lifetime it led to widespread debate about the relationship between art and advertising. The painting was one of many child pictures for which Millais had become well known in his later years.

It was modelled by his five year old grandson William Milbourne James and was based on 17th century Dutch precursors in the tradition of vanitas imagery, which commented upon the transience of life. These sometimes depicted young boys blowing bubbles, typically set against skulls and other signs of death. [1] The painting portrays a young golden-haired boy looking up at a bubble, symbolising the beauty and fragility of life. On one side of him is a young plant growing in a pot, and on the other is a fallen broken pot, emblematic of death. He is spot-lit against a gloomy background. Still Life with Young Boy blowing Bubbles by Gerrit Dou , a vanitas still-life of the kind that served as a model for Millais's painting. The painting was first exhibited in 1886 under the title A Child's World in Grosvenor Gallery in London, and was acquired by Sir William Ingram of the Illustrated London News . The painting was reproduced and presented in the magazine as a colour plate, where it was seen by Thomas J. Barratt , managing director of A&F Pears.

Barratt purchased the original painting from Ingram for £2,200 which gave him exclusive copyright on the picture. Millais' permission was sought in order to alter the picture by the addition of a bar of Pears Soap, so that it could be used for the purposes of advertising. At the time Millais was one of the most popular artists in Britain and he was initially apprehensive the prospect of his work and his grandson, being the subject of commercial exploitation. However when he was shown the proofs of the proposed advertisements he grew to appreciate the idea, which portrayed the soap as if the child had used it to make the bubbles. [2] Following the success of this advertisement Millais was attacked in print by the novelist Marie Corelli who accused him in her novel The Sorrows of Satan of prostituting his talent to sell soap. Millais wrote to her pointing out that he had sold the copyright of the painting and so was unable to stop the company from altering it in reproduction. Millais's son later claimed that he had tried to stop the advertisement being made, but had been advised that he had no legal power to do so. Corelli retracted her comments in a later edition of the book.

The advertisement became so well known that William Milbourne James , who later rose to the rank of Admiral in the British navy, was known as "Bubbles" for the rest of his life. Since A&F Pears was acquired by Lever Brothers , the painting has been in their ownership. It was lent to the Royal Academy , but was transferred to the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight in 2006. [1] References

Question: What is the title of the Millais painting used to advertise Pears Soap?
Answer: Bubbles