Scene
Robert Andrews, the male sitter, was a member of the landed gentry, and this is very much apparent in Gainsborough's work. Although it is probable the family money came from being a landlord, Robert's father also lent substantial amounts of money, particularly to other gentry, at significant interest rates. This included the sum of £30,000 to Frederick, Prince of Wales in 1743, for which he gained the title "remembrancer". He lived in Grosvenor Square (in Mayfair, London) and also owned ships and engaged in trade with the colonies of the British Empire. Robert himself was born in 1726, and went to Oxford University. His father purchased him an estate, and secured a bride, in a successful attempt to integrate Robert into the upper classes. In 1763, after his father's death, he would take over the family business. He had eight children.
The woman sitting beside him is Frances Mary Carter, who was betrothed to Andrews at 15 or 16 years old. They were married in Sudbury, Suffolk, on November 10, 1748: he was 22, she 16. Like many marriages of the time, there was more than an element of a business deal about the whole endeavour; the Aubries estate, where the painting was created, bordered her father's Ballingdon Estate and was probably part of her dowry. Her family had made their money in the drapery business, and by buying the estate avoided the collapse of the textile industry. By the time the work was commissioned, it was owned by Andrews.
The oak tree in front of which the couple stand has several connotations beyond the choice of location: stability and continuity, and a sense of successive generations taking over the family business. The landed gentry had even been compared to the oak, holding Britain together. The neat parallel rows of corn produced by Jethro Tull's revolutionary and controversial seed drill show that this is a thoroughly modern and efficient farm. Andrew’s estate, Auberies, is sited in Bulmer Tye, North Essex, just a few miles across the county border from Gainsborough’s native county of Suffolk. The small tower in the left background of the piece is St. Peters Church in Sudbury. The church in the middle of the piece is that of All Saints, Little Cornard, very close to Gainsborough's hometown of Sudbury. The oak tree is still extant, though considerably larger.
Read more about this topic: Mr And Mrs Andrews
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