JOSEPH CRAWHALL SENIOR
'CAPTAIN LEMUEL GULLIVER' AND 'GUIDO FAWKES' PLATTERS, DATED 1879
Auction: 22 April 2009 at 12:00 BST
Description
painted earthenware, each of circular form, one painted with the figure of Guy Fawkes and bearing inscription "The lively portraiture of the truly pious, learned and judicious gentleman Guido Fawkes ...etc." painted mark verso "Jos Crawhall/ Jan '79" with bearded man monogram; the other plate inscribed 'Captain Lemuel Gulliver', painted with a portrait of Lemuel Gulliver and bearing inscription "Drake and Columbus long th' unknown Shoar, Vespucci, at his best - but half seas o'er ...etc." inscribed verso 'Joseph Crawhall/ Newcastle-on-Tyne/ Jan 1879' with bearded man monogram (2)
Dimensions
31cm diameter
Footnote
Literature: Felver, C.S. 'Joseph Crawhall, The Newcastle Wood Engraver', published Frank Graham, Newcastle 1972
Note: Joseph Crawhall (1821-1896) was a distinguished English woodcut engraver. Copies of his most amusing verse were painted on china of which this lot is an example. Crawhill's work "carries the same freshness of colour and boldness and informality of touch that was so much a part of the work of William Nicholson and James Pryde, the Beggarstaff brothers, at the turn of the (20th) century. They in turn derived much of their inspiration for working in bold colours and broad lines from Joseph Crawhall. "In his work he often collaborated with his son Joseph, who in turn influenced and was influenced by his contemporaries E A Walton, George Henry, and the other Glasgow Boys.