225 'HER FIRST POSY'
FROM 'A COSY KITCHEN SCENE'
by François Philippe Sauvage (Late 19th C.)

Step back a hundred years into Victorian times, and just take a peep for a moment. This gallant little gesture you would never see if these two knew someone else was looking.

The interior is dark, the only daylight is coming through the stable door. The floors are bare, - all very simple, but nevertheless cared for and homely, with potted geraniums and colourful china on the simple dresser. This fast little boy has outgrown his trousers, in fact they don't look as they were made for him in the first place. But he is no rag-a-muffin. He is probably eloquent and is not shy with the flowers. His roughboots and thick socks are needed for running through the woods and across the fields. The captivated little girl, probably his sister, wears a pinafore over her traditional maroon dress. He is rather confident too in his bright straw hat. It has had so many adventures its brim is nearly worn away!

Here, not too young to play outside, but preferring to be with her doll inside the house, she steps down from her own tiny chair to examine the special posy. He has made it up from wild flowers from a near-by meadow.

The humble and sensitive scene may have been commissioned especially for someone's romantic gesture.

François Philippe Sauvage was born in Villiers-le-Bel (Seine et Oise). He studied under Frère, Dupuis and Danssert and exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1863.