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Commentary by Sarah Colegrave

Jessica Hayllar was the oldest of the four artistically talented daughters of the portrait and figure painter James Hayllar. She was born in London but from 1875 her father took the lease of Castle Priory, a large Thames-side house at Wallingford, Oxfordshire. At the house James Hayllar taught his daughters Jessica, Edith, Mary and Kate to paint in oils and watercolours. The aesthetic interior the Castle Priory, its domestic events, gardens, immediate surroundings and the flowers they grew became their favourite subjects. Between 1885 and 1900 she concentrated on painting quiet domestic scenes of everyday life at the family home. Her figures and interiors are closely observed with great naturalness and charm, her models often being member of her family or friends from the village. In about 1900 she was crippled by an accident and thereafter painted only flower subjects, being especially fond of azaleas.

Related Material

• James Hayllar's The Wandering Minstrel in a Quiet Square (1858)

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Last modified 30 November 2017