Object number
M.2013.44
Title
Captain of the Eleven.
Date
1898
Creator
Production reason
Presented with Pears Christmas Annual
Production notes
One of Three coloured plates
Material
Size
52 x 72 cm
Description
Full length portrait of a young boy, with brown hair, preparing to bat. He wears a white shirt, pale blue knickerbockers, braces, black socks and white cricket shoes. He holds a bat in his left hand, left foot forward, in front of three stumps (no bails). The background is dark, giving the appearence of thick foliage with red geraniums and violets beneath. Details: Presented with Pears' Christmas Annual 1898' at top.
Title: Captain of the Eleven. From the original painting by Philip H CAlderon RA, in the possession of the Proprietors of Pears' Soap
Display caption
The model for the 'Captain of the XI' with his cherubic face and flawless skin embodies the idea of freshness,
which would have resonated with Victorian audiences, who saw children as models of honesty. Childhood themes were a major preoccupation for the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood with whom the British artist and Royal Academician Philip Hermogenes Calderon was loosely associated.
The Brotherhood emulated the art of late medieval Europe until the time of Raphael. Their paintings were characterised by minute description of detail and a luminous palette, as seen here in the near-photographic precision of the violets in the background and luminosity of the grass. The boy’s fresh face, bright white shirt and pristine blue knickerbockers appealed to the soap company A.& F. Pears – the world’s first transparent soap manufacturer and first registered brand, who used this image in their advertising campaign.
Pears brought art to a wider audience through the production of Pear's Annual, which include large lithographs for framing. This image was reproduced in many formats throughout the 20th century, appearing on posters, postcards and presentation cricket bats.
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