Details
JAMES HAYLLAR, R.B.A. (BRITISH, 1829-1920)
Miss Lily's Carriage Stops the Way; and Miss Lily's Return from the Ball
signed 'J Hayllar.' (lower left); and signed and dated 'J Hayllar, 1866' (lower left)
oil on canvas (both)
3558 x 28 in. (90.6 x 71.1 cm.);
3558 x 2758 in. (90.6 x 70.3 cm.)
a pair
Provenance
with Messrs Newman, London, 1962.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 26 July 1974, lots 200 and 202.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 2 November 1994, lot 143.
with Mallet & Sons Ltd., London.
Acquired by Ann and Gordon Getty from the above.
Literature
Art Journal, 1866, p. 168 (Miss Lily's Carriage Stops the Way).
Art Journal, 1867, p. 143 (Miss Lily's Return from the Ball).
C. Wood, 'The Artistic Family Hayllar', Connoisseur, April 1974, pp. 266-273, as Ready for the Party.
A. Wilder, Victorian Artists of Wallingford, A Tale of Two Dynasties: The Hayllar and Leslie Families, Wallingford, 2006, pp. 34-35, no. 6.2, illustrated.
Exhibited
London, Royal Academy, 1866, no. 334 (Miss Lily's Carriage Stops the Way).
London, Royal Academy, 1867, no. 688 (Miss Lily's Return from the Ball).
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Lot Essay

In 1863, Millais scored a great success at the Royal Academy when he exhibited My First Sermon, in which a small girl, smartly dressed, sits attentively in the family pew listening to an address she struggles to understand. It was a subject many could identify with from childhood, but in 1864 he completed the joke by exhibiting My Second Sermon, in which the same sitter is shown slumped and asleep, the novelty having worn off.
James Hayllar copied the formula a couple of years later in 1866 when he showed Miss Lily’s Carriage Stops the Way. A young girl stands on her parents’ London staircase, having her costume adjusted by her maid, en route to her first party. The humor lies in the title, the scene will no doubt be repeated life-long. Hayllar compounded his success the following year with Miss Lily’s First Flirtation (private collection), and Miss Lily’s Return from the Ball (included here). Each picture proved hugely popular with the public, and the series was widely reproduced through engraving. These can be seen in the background of James Hayllar’s later portrait of his daughter Mary, suggesting that she may have been the model for the present picture. James Hayllar was the father of four highly successful daughters: Jessica, Edith, Mary and Kate, each of whom exhibited at the Royal Academy. Their depictions of the idyllic family life they enjoyed at Castle Priory, Wallingford, are now much sought after by collectors.

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