family piecen.
/ˈfam(ᵻ)lɪ piːs/, /ˈfaml̩ɪ piːs/, U.S. /ˈfæm(ə)li ˌpis/ 1. A picture, esp. a painting, of a family. Cf. family portrait n. (a) at family n. and adj. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > painting according to subject > [noun] > painting composed of figures > group-picture
family piece1690
family picture1718
set piece1846
family portrait1904
1690 E. Millington Coll. Curious Pict. 5 A Family piece, where a Woman is giving her Child Suck.
1740 G. Vertue Descr. Four Anc. Paintings 3 That Noble Family Piece..representing King Henry VII and his Queen; with King Henry VIII and his Queen.
1765 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting (ed. 2) II. iii. 123 Mr. Willett..has a small family-piece of Dr. Hibbard, physician, his wife and five children.
1826 W. Scott Provinc. Antiq. Scotl. II. 140 Another picture..is a family-piece, comprehending the Lord Seton, his lady, and four children.
1886 R. E. Graves Bryan's Dict. Painters & Engravers (rev. ed.) I. 549/2 He painted portraits, family pieces, and landscapes.
1932 Parnassus 4 13/3 The most important family piece is the Portrait of the Baron and the Baroness Bellelli, with their daughters, Jeanne and Julie.
2009 D. Heeken & C. Barber In Late Winter we ate Pears 33 Look up at that family piece over the fireplace, see the brown-and-white spaniel sitting near the mistress's chair.
2. A piece of writing describing the lives, activities, etc., of a particular family.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > a written composition > [noun] > socially informative
family piece1709
social document1883
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > biography > [noun] > types of biography
family piece1709
hikayat1808
heterobiography1825
necrology1830
life and times1866
life and works1907
photo-biography1915
hagiography1924
vie romancée1941
as-told-to1966
photo-essay1977
1709 Tatler No. 118. 23 I have perused your Tatler of this Day and have wept over it with great Pleasure: I wish you would be more frequent in your Family-Pieces.
1821 J. L. Adolphus Lett. to R. Heber vii. 174 That antique simplicity, that cordial feeling,..and that well-bred and somewhat aristocratic air, which the novelist so delights to combine in his family pieces.
1914 F. W. Chandler Aspects Mod. Drama x. 221 The tendency to be novelistic rather than dramatic..is even more marked in the family pieces written by the Russians.
1993 L. Muehl & S. Muehl Trading Cultures in Classroom iii. 9 The short family pieces they wrote as their writing assignment last night.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1690