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'The Goose Fair Nottingham', 1926
by Arthur Spooner
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Nottingham Goose Fair is famous around the world. It first started over 300 years
ago, as a trade fair for animals. Farmers would paint their geese’s feet with
tar and walk them more than 50 miles to sell at Goose Fair. Over the years entertainment
stalls were added and eventually Goose Fair became a fairground attraction for three
days each October.
This painting shows Goose Fair when it was held in the market square in the middle
of the city, nowadays it has moved to a larger site on the outskirts. The painting
evokes the smells, tastes and sights of a funfair; noisy, smelly, busy, bustling,
with lots to see and do. Look into the painting and smell onions, mushy peas, candy
floss, petrol, smoke. Hear mechanical music, laughing, shouting, engines.
Almost everyone in the painting wears a hat, which is not normal nowadays. Who does
wear a hat now and what kind of hats do people wear?
The people in the painting are all busy; the policeman is chatting but keeping a
wary eye out for mischief, the lITEle boy has won a coconut and is drinking the
‘milk’ from inside, watched by his friend who is eager to get his share.
The crowds are looking at the many different forms of entertainment, and the entrepreneur
with the dancing bears is shouting ‘roll up, roll up’ to encourage everyone
to watch.
A man in the foreground is carrying buckets of water, are these for the steam engine?
Why is the lady carrying a bird cage, does it have a bird inside?
In the background is the old Council House, a newer version now stands in the same
place. In the foreground are tram lines, which were ripped out decades ago. New
tram lines have recently been laid throughout the city. The painting shows the same
place as nowadays, but different.
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© The Artist's Estate. On loan to Nottingham Castle from the private collection
of Sir Harry Djanogly. Photo © The National Gallery, London.
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