Antique Late 19th c. English Oil on Canvas of a Gypsy Encampment in the New Forest, Hampshire England. The oil is very well done, is signed lower left the signature is too hard to read. The painting has been professionally framed in a gilt wood frame and has the original label en verso from the Lyndhurst Gallery, Hampshire. In frame measures 26x24x2 and weighs 5 pds 10 oz. PROVENANCE: The Estate of a Charleston SC Art Dealer / Gallery Owner. It is recorded that Gypsies had been living in the New Forest area for centuries, living off the land and travelling through seasonally. The earliest known document to record Gypsies in Hampshire is an entry in the Chawton, near Alton, Parish records in 1638. For three hundred years Gypsies were able to camp anywhere they wished within the New Forest in small family groups. They had their usual places to stop where they often met up with their family and acquaintances. They looked after their elderly members and were very family orientated. From the start of the nineteenth century Gypsy Travelers travelled on foot or in light carts sleeping in a Bender, which was a tent made of hazel branches and covered with tarpaulin. Because of their nomadic existence the children did not usually attend school but were taught important living skills and crafts by their elders. Gypsies had great pride, high morals and respected their elders.

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