In the painting ‘Mr and Mrs Andrews’ by Thomas Gainsborough, what is the man carrying?
Cornelia Parker Jupiter Artland, a nine metre tall cast iron and Corten steel shotgun leaning against a tree. Inspired by the painting "Mr and Mrs Andrews" by Thomas Gainsborough where Mr Andrews poses with a gun slung over his arm. The shotgun used in the piece is a facsimile of the one owned by Robert Wilson, one of the founders of Jupiter Artland. For the Folkestone Triennial in 2011, Parker created a Folkestone version of one of the popular tourist attractions in Copenhagen, "Little Mermaid". Through a process of open submission, Parker chose Georgina Baker, mother of two and Folkestone born and
Mr and Mrs Andrews of the country estate that had formed part of Mrs Andrews' dowry. Thomas Gainsborough was about twenty-three when he painted "Mr and Mrs Andrews" in 1750. He had married the pregnant Margaret Burr and returned to Sudbury, Suffolk, his home town as well as that of the Andrews, after an apprenticeship in London with the French artist Hubert-François Gravelot, from whom he learnt the French rococo style. There, he also picked up a love of landscapes in the Dutch style. However, landscape painting was far less prestigious and poorly paid compared to portraits and Gainsborough was forced (since the family