Lot Essay
As Robin Gibson first noted in 1971, the picture is closely related to another work by Hughes, The Lady with the Lilacs (Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto). Begun as a study for the girl in Silver and Gold, this was bought from Hughes by Lewis Carrol, and seems to have played some part in his conception of 'Alice'. The two pictures are the subject of the monograph noted above, and what follows is based on this.
Silver and Gold has two main themes. The passage of time is represented not only by the two women - youth (gold) and age (silver) - but the symbols of the sundial, the fallen lilac petals, and the scythe. Hughes was to recast all these elements in a much later picture The Blessing of Youth and Age (1911), seen on the London art market in 1982. The other theme is love. The name "Amy" carved on the tree trunk suggests the existence of an amorous liaison, while gardens were redolent for the Victorians of 'romantic encounters'. A heart is carved on the sundial, the motif being picked up in the four corners of the specially designed frame, and purple lilac in the Victorian 'language of flowers' symbolised 'the first emotions of love'. As for the name Amy, it clearly had a special significance for Hughes since it was that of his mother and of his eldest daughter, born in 1857. It also appears carved on a tree in his pictures The Long Engagement (c. 1854-9), as well as the closely related "Amy" (both Birmingham) and he was no doubt well aware of its origin in the French verb aimer, to love. The name had been popularised by two novels in which it is given to the heroine, Sir Walter Scott's Kenilworth (1821) and Charlotte Yonge's The Heir of Redclyffe (1853). The latter was a favourite of the Pre-Raphaelites, while Kenilworth is set in the Elizabethan period which Hughes too evokes by his choice of dress for the figures in Silver and Gold.
The old woman no less than the young one is preoccupied by love. Clearly a widow, she not only listens to the confidences of her companion but 'takes comfort from the treasured pendant in her left hand', presumably a relic of her husband. In fact 'the two women seem to represent a beginning and an ending in the cycle of love, from its first awakening to its life as a cherished memory'. The picture may be summed up as another of the meditations on romantic love which occur so often in Hughes's early work. In the famous April Love (1855; Tate Gallery) he comments on its fragility, while The Long Engagement deals with the obstacles which prevent the fullfilment of a relationship. 'In Silver and Gold (Hughes) is also concerned with the vicissitudes, such as the dove on the base of the pedestal, the butterflies in the borders of the young woman's dress, and the peacock, a symbol of longevity and immortality'.
The picture seems to have been started for the Newcastle industrialist James Leathart, but by February 1863 Hughes was already discussing its progress in letters to its future owner John Hamilton Trist, a Brighton wine-merchant who was to acquire some twenty of his pictures. Twice he changed the size of the canvas, first taking an inch or so off all round 'to give (as he told Trist) more importance to the figures', but eventually having it re-stretched to its original format. A sketch exists showing that at one time he considered giving it an arched top, such as he used for April Love, The Landy of the Lilacs and others.
In general, the picture was well received when it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1864. The Art Journal found it 'poetic and refined in conception, and singularly sensitive to delicate and harmonious modulations of colour. Crassly, however, in view of the subject, it complained that the figures were 'lacking in manly vigour' and 'the stamina and robustness which the greatest masters have shown not to be incompatible with beauty'. F. G. Stephens in the Athenaeum was more intelligent. 'Silver and Gold shows a bright-haired girl leading her mother by the hand. Both faces here are excellently painted - solid, sound, complete, and almost free from the purple tint above alluded to; they are expressive, handsome and characteristic. In all these pictures (Hughes was exhibiting two others) Mr Hughes has given us many points of fanciful suggestion, hints of delicate thought, and much elegance of treatment.
Silver and Gold has two main themes. The passage of time is represented not only by the two women - youth (gold) and age (silver) - but the symbols of the sundial, the fallen lilac petals, and the scythe. Hughes was to recast all these elements in a much later picture The Blessing of Youth and Age (1911), seen on the London art market in 1982. The other theme is love. The name "Amy" carved on the tree trunk suggests the existence of an amorous liaison, while gardens were redolent for the Victorians of 'romantic encounters'. A heart is carved on the sundial, the motif being picked up in the four corners of the specially designed frame, and purple lilac in the Victorian 'language of flowers' symbolised 'the first emotions of love'. As for the name Amy, it clearly had a special significance for Hughes since it was that of his mother and of his eldest daughter, born in 1857. It also appears carved on a tree in his pictures The Long Engagement (c. 1854-9), as well as the closely related "Amy" (both Birmingham) and he was no doubt well aware of its origin in the French verb aimer, to love. The name had been popularised by two novels in which it is given to the heroine, Sir Walter Scott's Kenilworth (1821) and Charlotte Yonge's The Heir of Redclyffe (1853). The latter was a favourite of the Pre-Raphaelites, while Kenilworth is set in the Elizabethan period which Hughes too evokes by his choice of dress for the figures in Silver and Gold.
The old woman no less than the young one is preoccupied by love. Clearly a widow, she not only listens to the confidences of her companion but 'takes comfort from the treasured pendant in her left hand', presumably a relic of her husband. In fact 'the two women seem to represent a beginning and an ending in the cycle of love, from its first awakening to its life as a cherished memory'. The picture may be summed up as another of the meditations on romantic love which occur so often in Hughes's early work. In the famous April Love (1855; Tate Gallery) he comments on its fragility, while The Long Engagement deals with the obstacles which prevent the fullfilment of a relationship. 'In Silver and Gold (Hughes) is also concerned with the vicissitudes, such as the dove on the base of the pedestal, the butterflies in the borders of the young woman's dress, and the peacock, a symbol of longevity and immortality'.
The picture seems to have been started for the Newcastle industrialist James Leathart, but by February 1863 Hughes was already discussing its progress in letters to its future owner John Hamilton Trist, a Brighton wine-merchant who was to acquire some twenty of his pictures. Twice he changed the size of the canvas, first taking an inch or so off all round 'to give (as he told Trist) more importance to the figures', but eventually having it re-stretched to its original format. A sketch exists showing that at one time he considered giving it an arched top, such as he used for April Love, The Landy of the Lilacs and others.
In general, the picture was well received when it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1864. The Art Journal found it 'poetic and refined in conception, and singularly sensitive to delicate and harmonious modulations of colour. Crassly, however, in view of the subject, it complained that the figures were 'lacking in manly vigour' and 'the stamina and robustness which the greatest masters have shown not to be incompatible with beauty'. F. G. Stephens in the Athenaeum was more intelligent. 'Silver and Gold shows a bright-haired girl leading her mother by the hand. Both faces here are excellently painted - solid, sound, complete, and almost free from the purple tint above alluded to; they are expressive, handsome and characteristic. In all these pictures (Hughes was exhibiting two others) Mr Hughes has given us many points of fanciful suggestion, hints of delicate thought, and much elegance of treatment.