The Waterly Bottom Mummers Painting

In old England it was traditional for poor families to perform the Mummers Play at Christmas to make a little extra money (plus food and drink for those performing) to help with the family's Christmas food. The old local text was preserved in the Bodelian library in Oxford and in 1969 a group of young men from Dursley and Wotton–under-Edge in Gloucestershire revived it with material added from people who remembered seeing the last old performers. The Waterly Bottom Mummers have been performing the Mummers Play for well over 40 years in local pubs over several evenings around Christmas time. There are cheers for King George and boos for the Dragon and Boney-Part and it is the fight between the Dragon and George that is portrayed in the painting. At the end of the play whilst the Wassailing song is sung the Wassail Bowl is passed round to share a toast to the company, which asks for good things for Christmas and the New Year. I have been friends with one of the founder members of the group for very many years and he appears in the painting receiving the Wassail Bowl from his son who plays the Doctor’s Assistant dressed in a farmer’s smock. Apart from King George and the Dragon we see Saucy Jack in the foreground carrying his wife and children on his back (played by King George’s son), Father Christmas and the Doctor on the right, behind them with a horse’s skull is the Brand and at the back near the bar is Boney-part. This wonderful play is a marvellous example of traditional English folk culture. When I first showed the painting in a London gallery I took the whole group to perform the play at the exhibition to the initial bewilderment and then delight of the visitors to the show.

Painting:Oil on Canvas

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:78.7 W x 47.2 H x 2 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.