How did Devonshire wrestlers fight dirty? The great British art quiz

Abraham Cann (1794-1864), the Last Champion in Devon-Style Wrestling, c.1846, attributed to Henry Caunter (active c.1846-c.1850). Photograph: Royal Albert Memorial Museum

This quiz is brought to you in collaboration with Art UK, the online home for the UK’s public art collections, showing art from over 3,000 venues and by 45,000 artists. Each day, a different collection on Art UK will set the questions.

Today, our questions are set by the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter – or RAMM as it is affectionately known – which has been collecting art, artefacts and natural history since the 1860s. The collections tell the story of Exeter and Devon since prehistory, and the region’s connections with people and places around the globe.

You can see art from the collection on Art UK here. Find out more on the Royal Albert Memorial Museum website here.

1. 

   In her portrait Lady Browne is extravagantly dressed in lace, silk ribbons and pearls. Which well-dressed monarch reigned when it was painted?

   1. Elizabeth I

   2. Charles I

   3. Henry VIII

   4. James I (VI of Scotland)

2. 

   Abraham Cann, depicted in this portrait, is described as the last champion in Devon wrestling. What were Devon wrestlers encouraged to do that most others weren’t?

   1. Head-butt opponents

   2. Punch opponents with horseshoes hidden in their gloves

   3. Kick opponents with hard boots

   4. Throw cider apples at opponents

3. 

   This rare carved wooden figure comes from Easter Island (Rapa Nui). Whose 1934 collage novel included characters inspired by Easter Island art and antiquities?

   1. Marc Chagall

   2. Leonora Carrington

   3. Adele Breton

   4. Max Ernst

4. 

   This painting by Stanhope Forbes shows a family reading the news of Queen Victoria’s death in 1901. For how many years did she reign?

   1. 49

   2. 63

   3. 64

   4. 56

5. 

   In the 19th century, archery was thought of as a suitable sport for young women to participate in. Where was the first national archery club formed?

   1. Budleigh Salterton in 1870

   2. Liverpool in 1861

   3. Wimbledon in 1868

   4. Athens in 1896

6. 

   Frank Holl painted this fly-on-the-wall view of seamstresses hard at work in about 1874. What was The Song of the Shirt it was named after, and who wrote it?

   1. Poem about the clothing trades by Thomas Hood

   2. Song about a dressmaker by Fred Albert and Marie Lloyd

   3. Short story about an apprentice by Charles Dickens

   4. Musical comedy about a London merchant by Harrigan and Hart

7. 

   This early 17th-century plaster caryatid comes from near Totnes in Devon. Her hairstyle is Italian but what style is her dress?

   1. Dutch

   2. Cornish

   3. French

   4. Indian

8. 

   Which French-born artist painted apple trees in blossom at this secluded farmstead in Devon?

   1. Alfred Sisley

   2. Lucien Pissarro

   3. Pierre Bonnard

   4. Camille Pissarro

Solutions

1:D - James I reigned from 1603-25. Lady Browne was painted between 1605 and 1610. Her rich clothing reflects court dress at this period and compares to portraits of the Queen Consort Anne of Denmark, who set court style with her high-brushed hairstyle. Image: Lady Browne, c.1605-10, British (English) School, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, 2:C - Devon wrestlers wore "baked" boots to destabilise opponents. Unsurprisingly, severe injuries were not uncommon. Image: Abraham Cann (1794-1864), the Last Champion in Devon-Style Wrestling, c.1846, attributed to Henry Caunter (active c.1846-c.1850), Royal Albert Memorial Museum, 3:D - Ernst’s alchemical collage work Une Semaine de Bonté was produced in five parts, each representing days of the week. Thursday includes images of birdmen and Moai-headed figures, known from Easter Island art, symbolising the alchemical element of Darkness. Image: Ancestor Figure (Mo’ai Kavakava), before 1875, unknown artist, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, 4:C - The location of the scene is thought to be Primrose Cottage, Newlyn, where the Hichens family learned of the queen’s death from the newspaper. Image: The 22 January 1901 (Reading the News of the Queen’s Death in a Cornish Cottage, 1901, Stanhope Alexander Forbes (1857-1947), Royal Albert Memorial Museum, 5:B - The first Grand National Archery Meeting was held at York in 1843 but the Grand National Archery Society was not founded until 1861 at the Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool, at a meeting to organise the annual national championships. Much later it became known as Archery GB, the governing body for the UK. Image: The Fair Toxophilites (English Archers, 19th Century), 1872, William Powell Frith (1819-1909), Royal Albert Memorial Museum, 6:A - The poem, originally published anonymously in Punch in December 1843, raised awareness of low pay and miserable labour and living conditions. Holl, known for social realism, was not the only artist to produce an image inspired by the work. Image: The Song of the Shirt, c.1874, Frank Holl (1845-88), Royal Albert Memorial Museum, 7:C - A slashed farthingale (the fabric around her hips) would have been quite the thing in early 17th-century Paris. This ghostly white lady comes from the ruins of the castle at Berry Pomeroy, reputed to be one of the most haunted in England. Image: Caryatid, 16th C, unknown artist, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, 8:B - Lucien Pissarro, Camille’s son, settled in London in 1890 and became a British citizen in 1916. He painted this view at Blackpool in south Devon in June 1921 when the blossom was at its finest. Image: Apple Blossom, Riversbridge Form, Blackpool, Devon, 1921, Lucien Pissarro (1863-1944), Royal Albert Memorial Museum

Scores

1. 6 and above.

   Prize Ramm! Well done

2. 0 and above.

   Ramm? You'll be feeling sheepish about this result

3. 3 and above.

   Not too bad, although you couldn't quite Ramm this one home.