James Collinson

The Empty Purse (replica of ‘For Sale’)

?c.1857

Image released under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND (3.0 Unported)

License this image

On loan

National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australia): Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood

Artist
James Collinson 1825–1881
Medium
Oil paint on canvas
Dimensions
Support: 610 x 492 mm
frame: 766 x 655 x 70 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Presented anonymously 1917
Reference
N03201

Display caption

The title of this picture and the showiness of the woman looking brazenly at the viewer suggest that she works as a prostitute. The bright colours and brilliant finish reveal Collinson’s Pre-Raphaelite past. He was one of the original members of the Brotherhood but he could not reconcile their ideas with his Catholic faith and he resigned. After a brief period training to become a priest he resumed his artistic career in 1854. His subsequent paintings like this one show anecdotal subjects and moralizing scenes from everyday life – the sort of paintings against which the Pre-Raphaelites rebelled.

Gallery label, July 2007

Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? We would like to hear from you.

Pre-Raphaelite Victorian / Genre

Explore

You might like

William Maw Egley, ‘Omnibus Life in London’ 1859

William Maw Egley Omnibus Life in London

1859
On display at Tate Britain part of Walk Through British Art N05779
Augustus Leopold Egg, ‘Past and Present, No. 1’ 1858

Augustus Leopold Egg Past and Present, No. 1

1858
On display at Tate Britain part of Walk Through British Art N03278
William Holman Hunt, ‘The Awakening Conscience’ 1853

William Holman Hunt The Awakening Conscience

1853
T02075
Sir John Everett Millais, Bt, ‘The Order of Release 1746’ 1852–3

Sir John Everett Millais, Bt The Order of Release 1746

1852–3
N01657
William Powell Frith, ‘The Derby Day’ 1856–8

William Powell Frith The Derby Day

1856–8
On display at Tate Britain part of Walk Through British Art N00615
Abraham Solomon, ‘Waiting for the Verdict’ 1857

Abraham Solomon Waiting for the Verdict

1857
T03614
Robert Braithwaite Martineau, ‘Picciola’ 1853

Robert Braithwaite Martineau Picciola

1853
N03626
Ford Madox Brown, ‘Lear and Cordelia’ 1849–54

Ford Madox Brown Lear and Cordelia

1849–54
On display at Tate Britain part of Walk Through British Art N03065
James Collinson, ‘Home Again’ 1856

James Collinson Home Again

1856
On display at Tate Britain part of Walk Through British Art T04105
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, ‘St Catherine’ 1857

Dante Gabriel Rossetti St Catherine

1857
N04603
Sir John Everett Millais, Bt, ‘The North-West Passage’ 1874

Sir John Everett Millais, Bt The North-West Passage

1874
On display at Tate Britain part of Walk Through British Art N01509
Sir John Everett Millais, Bt, ‘Mrs James Wyatt Jr and her Daughter Sarah’ c.1850

Sir John Everett Millais, Bt Mrs James Wyatt Jr and her Daughter Sarah

c.1850
T03858
James Turpin Hart, ‘A Rustic Timepiece’ 1856

James Turpin Hart A Rustic Timepiece

1856
T03396
John Roddam Spencer Stanhope, ‘Thoughts of the Past’ exhibited 1859

John Roddam Spencer Stanhope Thoughts of the Past

exhibited 1859
N03338
William Holman Hunt, ‘Claudio and Isabella’ 1850

William Holman Hunt Claudio and Isabella

1850
On display at Tate Britain part of Walk Through British Art N03447