Blind Man's Buff

A naive provincial folk art oil on canvas of the party game ‘Blind Man’s Buff’, oil on canvas, 1820-1830. Unsigned.

This painting is a period copy of the hugely popular painting ‘Blind Man’s Buff’ of 1812 by Sir David Wilkie RA (1785 –1841), which is housed in the Royal Collection.

The image was widely circulated from around 1820 in print form and copied by amateur artists, of which this painting is one.

Nineteenth-century illustrated news sheets, and later newspapers were, it could be argued, the beginning of mass media.  They published and republished thousands of illustrations, which brought a world of information to the whole of the country, both to those who could and could not read well.

Blind Man’s Buff or Bluff is a party game in which one player is blindfolded and then disorientated  by being spun around several times. The other players, who are not blindfolded, amuse themselves by calling out to the ‘blind man’  and dodging away from him.

Sight:    23" x  17"  ( 58cm x 44cm)

Frame:  27"  x  21"   (69cm x 54cm)

£ 625

Ref: 240