The union would spend the subscriptions on works of contemporary art, which were distributed among its members by means of a lottery.
It was introduced to England in the late 1830s on the recommendation of a House of Commons Select Committee on the Arts and Manufactures in the United Kingdom.
[1] It described its aim as being "to aid in extending the love of the Arts of Design, and to give Encouragement to Artists beyond that afforded by the patronage of individuals.
[4] At that year's meeting George Godwin announced the committee's intention to hold the draw at an earlier date in the future, to allow the winners' selections to be made before most of the best pictures had been sold.
[4] As the number of subscribers increased, so did the value of the prizes, totalling about £9,000 annually at the peak of the Union's success.
The success of the venture led the Union to organise a competition for works that could be reproduced on a small scale in Parian.