A girl buying a ballad, in a feigned oval

As titled by Walton himself, A girl buying a ballad evidently proved to be a popular subject. The present work can be added to two other known versions, the finest of which is in the Tate and was exhibited at the Royal Academy’s annual exhibition in 1778, and a second is in a private collection. The three versions differ slightly from one another in format, detail and handling, with the present painting depicted in a feigned oval, but were likely all painted at around the same time, circa 1778.

A girl buying a ballad is perhaps one of Walton’s best-known ‘fancy pictures’: the genre purported to show scenes from everyday life, often depicting the working classes in urban settings, but with an underlying subtext, which was usually political, satirical, sentimental or comical. Walton’s master Johann Zoffany contributed to the popularity of the genre significantly, but Walton became a highly-accomplished proponent of the ‘fancy picture’ in his own right.

We are grateful to Evelyne Bell for confirming the attribution to Henry Walton on the basis of photographs.