Afternoon Tea

Born in Philadelphia, William Henry Lippincott studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts before traveling to Paris in 1874 and becoming a regular exhibitor at the Salon. He returned to America in 1882, establishing a studio in New York City and leading painting classes at the National Academy. Lippincott became particularly well known as a children's portraitist, and his most prized genre scenes often include children at play. In addition to the charming doll tea party in the present work, Infantry in Arms (1887, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts) includes a baby playing soldier, Childish Thoughts (1895, PAFA) includes a child dancing with her doll, and Punch and Judy Show (1896, Vassar College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie) features children conducting a home-spun puppet show. The playfulness of each scene lightens the atmosphere of the sumptuously detailed interiors and clothing of the elegant late nineteenth-century homes depicted.