The Fair Toxophilites: English Archers, Nineteenth Century

"The Fair Toxophilites" depicts female archers in a non-competitive setting. The title derives from the word, toxophilus, meaning "lover of archery." These sportswomen are "fair," an indication that archery can be an occasion for conspicous display of the female form. The view of the archers in profile also allows for bodily display (as compared to the image "Amazons of the Bow").

The year this was painted, 1872, a journalist writes: "An archery fête, on a fair smooth lawn, in July or August, is a very pleasant scene. . . To the performers it affords what they are likely to value—an opportunity for showing off their personal graces as well as their skill in the game. If a lady has a fine arm and a good erect figure, the bow and arrow will become her well." The painting, along with this quotation, shows how sports can increase a woman's sexual capital in the eyes of a potential suitor.

The image also conveys the leisured status of the archers, as their elegant attire is a strong visual focus. Archery meets were often an opportunity for women to promenade in the latest fashions, but this painting also includes details that are usually left out of archery images such as functional equipment hanging from a "chatelaine" at the waist: a "tassel for cleaning the arrows, a grease box for treatment of the fingertips, and a pencil for scoring." (See: http://www.rammuseum.org.uk/collections/fine-art/a-gallery-in-the-gardens/the-fair-toxophilites)