K. Wilbraham, A Tudor Family at Table

A naive, storybook painting of a Tudor household in a panelled hall. It is signed ‘K. Wilbraham’, an artist we have not traced in auction or dictionary records. The costumes recall the court of Henry VIII, with a jester’s cap, a gabled hood and slashed, fur-trimmed gowns.

A lord in a plumed red bonnet and a striped, fur-lined gown stands at the left holding a staff, with a small girl in a long apron beside him. Behind them the family sits at a table spread with a red cloth and a basket of fruit. A jester looks on and a servant carries in a covered dish. At the right are a tall glass comport of fruit and an empty, draped chair.

Oil on coarse-weave canvas, signed lower right ‘K. WILBRAHAM’ with a flourish beneath. In a distressed silvered and gilt wooden frame, worn at the edges.