[T. & R. Annan interest] Muirhead Bone (1876-1953)
Annotated sales record of his works by the company T. & R. Annan
£504
Auction: 05 February 2025 from 10:00 GMT
Description
76 pp. bound manuscript, 29.5 x 23cm, with laid-down images of etchings and drypoints from 1908 until 1945, annotated in several hands (with 12 blank pages);
Dodgson, Campbell. Etchings & Dry Points by Muirhead Bone. I. 1898-1907. Obach & Co., 1909. 4to, volume 1 only, number 243 of 275 numbered copies, annotated (and possibly extra-illustrated) with sales records, magazine articles, newspaper clippings and letters from the author (2)
Footnote
Thomas Annan (1829-1887) famously founded a photographic studio in Glasgow in 1857, creating influential collections such as Photographs of the Old Closes and Streets of Glasgow. The Annan photography business, ‘T. & R. Annan and Sons’, was a family affair, incorporating Thomas Annan’s sons (James Craig and John), alongside Thomas’s brother. In addition to taking, and dealing in, photographs, the Annans showed a great interest in the print as an artform (Thomas Annan purchased the rights to the photogravure process in Britain in 1883). The family exhibited, photographed and sold prints and paintings, alongside illustrating fine art catalogues.
T. & R. Annan and Sons became an institution in the Glasgow, gaining the Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria as 'Photographers and Photographic Engravers to her Majesty’ in the city. They can be credited with promoting the works of important local artists such as Muirhead Bone and William Strang through the medium of engraving and limited edition prints, alongside photographing the artists’ work themselves. James Craig Annan even travelled around Europe with the artist, D.Y. Cameron, collaborating on an exhibition in 1892.
The volumes presented here record the sales, prices and ultimately the early popularity of the works of these Scottish artists, providing a unique insight into the Glasgow art market in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.