This charming cottage scene by Alfred Provis features a woman preparing supper by a fire with her young daughter. As the mother peels the turnips and places them in the pot, the girl's attention is drawn to the kitten feeding from a saucer. The dress and hat of the woman bears a similarity to those found Provis’s other scenes of Welsh cottage interiors. The artist was known to have visited North Wales around the time this painting was produced. In 1869, he exhibited a work entitled ‘Interior of a Welsh Farmhouse’ at the Royal Society of British Artists. Given the level of detail in the painting and the fact that it is in such an impressive original frame, it is possible this is the same painting as the one exhibited.

Alfred Provis was a genre painter born on 18 February, 1818 in Chippenham, Wiltshire. He was the son of John Provis, a timber merchant and his second wife Ann Banks. He spent time in London being tutored by the historical and portrait artist John Wood (1801-1870) before returning to Chippenham. He began exhibiting at the Royal Society of British Artists in 1843, continuing to exhibit there regularly until 1886. He made his debut at the Royal Academy in 1846 with a work entitled ‘A Cottage Door’ and the following year began exhibiting at the British Institution.

Provis moved back to London around 1849, where he lived at 56 Nelson Square and later 60 Great Portland Street where he kept a studio. By the time of his marriage to Ellen Andrews on 16 August, 1851 at All Souls Church, Marylebone, Provis had become a successful artist. From 1853, the couple lived in Elms Cottage, Brentford and had two children together, Ellen Agnes and Mary Evelyn. Provis spent his time painting genre scenes usually of rustic cottage interiors featuring families. During the 1850’s and 1860’s he also visited Brittany and North Wales painting interior scenes on more than one occasion.

Towards the end of 1873, he moved to Thornhill House at Kingston Lisle in Berkshire. A number of scenes painted after this time featured his own cottage with his family as models. He died at Thornhill House on 10 August, 1890, leaving a considerable legacy.

Examples of his work can be found in the Aberdeen Art Gallery, Atkinson Art Gallery, Bury Art Museum, Childhood Collection, Ferens Art Gallery, Harris Museum & Art Gallery, National Library of Wales, V&A, Wiltshire Museum and Wolverhampton Art Gallery.

© Benton Fine Art