{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1264445"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1264445/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2014GW0861/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2014GW0861/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2014GW0861","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1264445/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1264445","accessionNumber":"B.166-2013","objectType":"Drawing","titles":[{"title":"A Generic Difference","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"George Du Maurier (1834-1896) was a cartoonist  and novelist. He and his family moved between  Paris and London frequently, and as one of the  'Paris Gang' he pursued artistic training alongside  James Whistler and Thomas Armstrong. From  1861, his satirical commentaries on the aesthetic  movement and its characters were published in  Punch magazine, and he became a staff  cartoonist there in 1863. He became a household  name for series in Punch and as an illustrator of  contemporary and historical novels. \r\n\r\nThis drawing of a column of schoolgirls processing  next to their tutor is a humorous take on the  appearance and habits of pupils of the small  private schools that proliferated for upper-middle class girls in the nineteenth century. These  schools, often located in private homes and offering boarding and education for about 10 girls, were of varying quality and academic merit. The cartoon highlights many features of these schools  - such as the age range of the pupils and the emphasis on decorum and etiquette - which may seem unfamiliar to contemporary audiences. The  caption refers to the exclusively female  environment of the school, and of young women's lives more generally. It is interesting that  the young women themselves are questioning the conventions of behaviour, rather than passively  obeying the tutor's rule.\r\n\r\n\r\n","physicalDescription":"A drawing of a procession of schoolgirls walking in pairs.  The girls at the front of the line are the oldest, the height and age of the girls goes down in the line.  They are flanked by a school mistress at the side and two at the rear.  It is signed by the artist on the bottom left. \r\nThe artwork currently framed in a dark wooden frame, it has a card mount with cut holes for the artwork and for the caption .  ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"George Du Maurier","id":"A24255"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"pen and ink on paper ","categories":[{"text":"Children & Childhood","id":"THES48980"},{"text":"Education & Learning","id":"THES252542"},{"text":"Drawings","id":"THES48966"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"YVA","id":"THES48593"},"images":["2014GW0861"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"A","id":"THES304250"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Cartoon","id":"AAT123430"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"drawn","id":"x30545"},"note":"Possibly"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1860 to 1889","earliest":"1860-01-01","latest":"1889-12-31"},"association":{"text":"drawn","id":"x30545"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Width","value":"42.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"framed"},{"dimension":"Height","value":"34.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"framed "},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"2.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"framed "}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"A Generic Difference\r\nFirst schoolgirl- \"I am so tired of walking along by twos & twos in this way, its as bad as the animals going into the ark!\"\r\nSecond ditto (ditto ditto) \"Worse!, half of them were masculine!\"","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"This art work was produced for publication in Punch.  From  1861, Du Maurier's satirical  commentaries on the aesthetic movement and its characters were  published in  Punch  magazine, and he became a staff cartoonist there in 1863.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Two by Two, Pen and Ink drawing by George Du Maurier, 1860s  - 80s","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Unique","id":"THES48864"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["B.166-2013"],"accessionNumberNum":"166","accessionNumberPrefix":"B","accessionYear":2013,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-02","recordCreationDate":"2013-06-04","availableToBook":true}}