Specialist
Exhibition Hours
By Appointment Only
Sale 2556 | Lot 51
Additional images and condition
12
Sale 2556 - Lot 51
Estimate: $ 2,500 - $ 3,500
AUBREY BEARDSLEY (1872-1898)
"Flower flanked by Leaves." Ornamental device for Book V, chapter XII on page 180 of "Le Morte d'Arthur" (London: J.M. Dent, 1893-94), created by May 30, 1893. Repeated in Book X, chapter XLI and Book XXI, chapter XI. Pen and India ink on paper with thin tissue paper backing. 65x61 mm; 2 1/2x2 1/4 inches. Inlaid to size on 10x7 1/4-inch sheet with hand-drawn borders. Archivally matted and framed.
Provenance: J. M. Dent to Erhard Weyhe Collection, Sotheby's New York, December 15, 1988; thence to Jack and Caroline Milne.
Beardsley's tour-de-force was his first major commission and one in which he explored techniques suited to fine book reproduction, specifically the line-block. The artist's knowledge of the text and the literary associations with flora guided his choice for their usage in specific sections of the story. The clematis here indicates artifice and mental beauty. Zatlin, Linda, Aubrey Beardsley: A Catalogue Raisonné, Vol 1; #456.
"Flower flanked by Leaves." Ornamental device for Book V, chapter XII on page 180 of "Le Morte d'Arthur" (London: J.M. Dent, 1893-94), created by May 30, 1893. Repeated in Book X, chapter XLI and Book XXI, chapter XI. Pen and India ink on paper with thin tissue paper backing. 65x61 mm; 2 1/2x2 1/4 inches. Inlaid to size on 10x7 1/4-inch sheet with hand-drawn borders. Archivally matted and framed.
Provenance: J. M. Dent to Erhard Weyhe Collection, Sotheby's New York, December 15, 1988; thence to Jack and Caroline Milne.
Beardsley's tour-de-force was his first major commission and one in which he explored techniques suited to fine book reproduction, specifically the line-block. The artist's knowledge of the text and the literary associations with flora guided his choice for their usage in specific sections of the story. The clematis here indicates artifice and mental beauty. Zatlin, Linda, Aubrey Beardsley: A Catalogue Raisonné, Vol 1; #456.
Condition:
A beautiful, delicate ink drawing. A few very light pencil tracing marks to light areas; pooled ink in portions of background showing artist's hand work.
Verso shows faint ghost of another drawing from the book, when stored together in Dent's archives. Also present is Dent's faint penciled inventory number 1/180.
Condition reports and additional images are provided as a courtesy and should be used by you to aid in the formation of your own opinion regarding condition. All material is sold subject to Swann's standard terms and conditions of sale as published in our catalogues and posted on our website, and include the following terms: (1) all property is sold "as-is"; and (2) works cannot be returned on the basis of condition.