A Vestry Meeting
Artist: Louis Wain · Before 1892
A Vestry Meeting: high-resolution image, free to copy
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Open high-resolution image on Wikimedia CommonsLouis Wain. Wikimedia Commons.
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The complete story
The story About 1 minutes to read
Bulldogs in human dress argue at a vestry meeting, a rare Wain scene without cats. The image applies his anthropomorphic method to dogs and local politics.
The dogs fill a plain room, some seated on a bench and others standing. A notice board and a doorway set the institutional scene. The black-and-white print emphasises faces and gestures over colour.
The vestry was a local church council, a familiar target for Victorian satire. Wain gives the meeting to bulldogs, whose broad faces and heavy bodies suit the comedy.
The image is a reminder that Wain's anthropomorphic method was not limited to cats. The joke works because the dogs look both official and ridiculous.
The story and its sources
Historical claims are linked to the records below. Close looking and interpretation are identified in the passage notes.
- Passage 1Article text
- Passage 2Article textWikimedia Commons: LouisWainAVestryMeeting.jpg
- Passage 3Article textWikipedia: Louis Wain
- Passage 4Article textWikipedia: Louis Wain
Artist portrait Image credit
Unknown photographer. Image source · Public domain
About the artist
Louis Wain
5 August 1860 to 4 July 1939
Wain was a British illustrator and painter best known for his anthropomorphic cats. Born in Clerkenwell, London, he trained at the West London School of Art and taught at Camberwell before building a career in illustrated papers, children's books and postcards. His cats move through theatres, clubs, shops and family celebrations, and his later patterned images have become some of his most discussed work.
- Born
- 5 August 1860
- Died
- 4 July 1939
- Nationality
- British
- Birthplace
- Clerkenwell, London, England
- Died in
- St Albans, Hertfordshire, England
Biography sources
The research & record
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The artwork record
Research catalogue
Catalogue information and detailed research, with references that link to the bibliography.
Identity and catalogue
Link- Title
- A Vestry Meeting
- Artist / attribution
- Louis Wain
- Date
- Before 1892
- Medium and support
- Print after an oil painting
- Dimensions
- Not recorded in the source
- Culture / place
- British
- Period
- Victorian and Edwardian illustration
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Subject and iconography
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Visual observation
The dogs fill a plain room, some seated on a bench and others standing. A notice board and a doorway set the institutional scene. The black-and-white print emphasises faces and gestures over colour.(Wikimedia Commons: LouisWainAVestryMeeting.jpg, n.d.)
Historical context
LinkRead valuation records and their limitations
The source describes a print of the painting made before 1892. It shows Wain using the same comic machinery he later reserved for cats.
Wain's cat world
LinkRead valuation records and their limitations
The vestry was a local church council, a familiar target for Victorian satire. Wain gives the meeting to bulldogs, whose broad faces and heavy bodies suit the comedy.(Wikipedia: Louis Wain, n.d.)
Reading the image
LinkRead valuation records and their limitations
The image is a reminder that Wain's anthropomorphic method was not limited to cats. The joke works because the dogs look both official and ridiculous.(Wikipedia: Louis Wain, n.d.)
Details to carry with you
- Print after an oil painting
- Made before 1892
- Bulldogs in human dress
- A vestry meeting
Bibliography
Sources and further reading
References are arranged by author or organisation, with links to the original publications. Where no publication date is recorded, n.d. means no date.
Source notes updated .
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- 01
Image-record
Wikimedia Commons: LouisWainAVestryMeeting.jpg (n.d.). Wikimedia Commons.
Citation text
- 02
Secondary
Wikipedia: Louis Wain (n.d.). Wikipedia.
Citation text
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