A Laundry Maid Ironing
- Artist: Henry Robert Morland
- Date: c.1765–82
- Medium: Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions: support: 743 x 616 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
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About this artwork
This is “A Laundry Maid Ironing” by Henry Robert Morland, painted around 1765–82 in oil on canvas. Morland was a master of the so‑called “fancy pictures,” everyday scenes lifted into the realm of genteel genre. In this piece he repeats a familiar formula: a young woman in a domestic role, but instead of grit and hardship, she looks serene and almost idyllic. The maid is seated, her gaze directed down at the iron, her clothes and tools immaculate, almost like a stage set for a storybook. The scene is less about the real toil of laundry work and more about a crafted type that would appeal to the middle and upper classes, making it a ready print for the market. It’s a neat snapshot of 18th‑century taste and the way artists packaged everyday labor for a wider audience.
See it in person
A Laundry Maid Ironing is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
