5th Oct, 2024 9:30 GMT/BST
20th Century Design
128
Eric William Ravilious (1903-1942): A Child's Handkerchief, lithographically printed on cotton, inscribed to verso Silk Handkechief: Purchased by Mary Monck Algiers May 1943 N.Africa whilst serving with F.A.N.Y (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry) Manufactured by mess rs Deans England, labelled for Miss Alma Taylor The Vicarage Froxfield Wilts,
43.5cm square (framed)
Early in February 1941, while Eric Ravilious was working as a War Artist, he wrote to E.M.O'Rourke Dickey at the Ministry of Information, 'I've just had a long visit from a Mr. Gerald Holtom who seems very much to want designs for textiles for some Cotton Board. It would make a change to do this for a bit, and he assures me the whole thing is urgent and necessary'.
The Cotton Board had been founded to raise standards of design and improve exports. As Helen Binyon relates in Eric Ravlious 1983, Gerald Holtom had found a firm in Lancashire which produced handkerchiefs printed by lithography, an unusual printing process for textiles, but one in which Ravilious was becoming increasingly interested. Holtom explained that he proposed displaying 'appropriate decorative handkerchiefs and scarves ... at the travelling exhibitions of War Artists' and A.F.S Artists' work in the U.S.A' Ravilious wrote to Helen Binyon on 1st April 1941, 'The cotton prints are being tried out (by lithography) and the first experiment is a child's handkerchief - you shall have one if it comes off well.'
The Child's Handkerchief by Eric Ravilious exists in two forms. A proof on paper, printed in two blues with trial workings for pattern designs in the margin, is presumaly the first version of the design, possibly done as a trial to test the capacity of the fabric printing process. Ravilious then apears to have reworked and simplified the design, using dark grey and dark green for the detailed work, with bands of yellow for the tape measures and across the numbers, somewhat in the style of the Wedgwood Alphabet mug. This second version is only found printed on cotton, with unhemmed edges. The small number of known copies (less than five) suggests that it was carried to proof stage but never issued commercially.
The handkerchief is inscribed 'To John' in the tiny oval between the figures 11 and 12. This is John Ravilious, eldest child of Eric and Tirzah Ravilious, born 1935. Eric Ravilious was lost on a flight from Iceland in September 1942, while serving as a War Artist.
Sold for £4,500
Estimated at £1,000 - £1,500
Auction: 20th Century Design, 5th Oct, 2024
We are delighted to be offering another outstanding selection of early Mouseman furniture this October. Most excitingly for fans of Mouseman, is a rare circa 1926 English Oak Hutch Cupboard, which has two of Robert Thompson’s own hand-carved mice with front paws, which were only included on very early pieces, and most unusually they are undercut so their heads and chests are raised off the wood underneath. The hutch comes with provenance from the Preston/Isherwood family, from Lancashire. With provenance from the same family is a Pair of English Oak Easy Chairs made circa 1930.
Further notable collections of Mouseman in the sale include a selection of pieces commissioned in the 1930s for Tudor Croft, an Arts and Crafts house on the edge of Guisborough built by Ronald Crossley in 1935, a 9 foot refectory table and set of armchairs that were by repute made for Yorkshire Copper Works,Leeds in 1939, and a selection of furniture and fittings from C.E. Waddington, a family-run gentlemen’s outfitters with three shops in Worksop, Rotherham and Bawtry, commissioned between 1958 and 1965. Finally, a there is a highly personal collection of Mouseman and Critter pieces from the estate of the late Ken Almack (1932-2021), one of Robert Thompson’s craftsmen. The sale will include over 100 lots of Mouseman furniture and furnishings, and over 80 lots by the Yorkshire Critters.
The sale will also offer the David and Brenda Pearson Studio Pottery Collection, including outstanding pieces such as a Stoneware Bottle and Vase, circa 1983 by the inimitable Dame Lucie Rie. David and Brenda Pearson had a passion for studio ceramics and purchased much of their collection from the Peter Dingley Gallery in Stratford-upon-Avon, not far from their home in Birmingham, which showcased the works of outstanding contemporary potters. Their collection also includes pieces by the likes of Shoji Hamada, Bernard, David and Janet Leach, Richard Batterham and John Maltby.
A further Private Collection of French and American Art Glass from the North West, dating from 1900 to the 1930s is also on offer, encompassing cameo and painted pieces.
Viewing
Thursday 3rd October and Friday 4th October 10am-4pm and the morning of the sale from 8am
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