Breakfast c. 1890s

John Frederick Peto created this evocative still life painting, 'Breakfast', using oil on canvas, sometime around the turn of the century. Peto, working in a time of rapid industrialization, captured the simple, intimate moments of everyday life. Here, we see a modest breakfast scene: a cup adorned with delicate floral patterns sits alongside a loaf of bread. This setup is humble, and yet there is a sense of warmth, a personal touch, within the painting’s muted tones and the soft lighting that caresses the objects. The scene evokes a sense of quiet domesticity that counters the public, often masculine, world of industry and commerce. The decision to paint the intimate space of a breakfast table may be seen as Peto's way of acknowledging the value of women's work and the importance of domestic spaces. This work highlights the beauty in the mundane, inviting us to reflect on the stories behind the objects we often overlook. It encourages us to think about the value we assign to labor and the spaces that hold our most personal moments.