Children with a St. Bernard

A master of the family genre scene Elsley is one of the most accomplished painters of children during the Victorian era his style closely relates to Frederick Morgan and Charles Burton Barber (see lots 169 and 170), deriving in style to the late works of Sir John Everett Millais. Elsley often used his own children as models for his pictures and it has been suggested that the girl in our painting is his daughter Mabel. Another work by Elsley Bedtime Story, also portraying Mabel sold in these rooms on October 25, 1996, lot 58.