Gill, Eric (1882-1940)
Carved presentation plaque on wood, 1908
£6,930
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs
Auction: 28 September 2022 from 10:00 BST
Description
recto with incised inscription 'An Graf Kessler, MCMVIII', verso with incised inscription 'A E R GILL carver' (the initial 'R' with Elizabethan-style cadel), shaped and scalloped edges, together with another panel with similar edges but no inscription, the two together intended as a case for a presentation address on vellum for Harry, Graf von Kessler by Edward Johnston (not present), and accompanied by an autograph letter signed from Johnston to Gill presenting the address, dated Laurencekirk, 1908 ('Dear Gill, I hope this will do [...]', 4 pp.), partial loss of conjoining wooden supports [Evan Gill, Inscriptional Work of Eric Gill, 145]
Footnote
Note:
Harry, Graf von Kessler (1868-1932) was 'the first of Gill's grand patrons, and their relationship is an interesting one because it set a pattern of success which was continued and which brought him commissions of the calibre he needed' (Fiona MacCarthy, Eric Gill, 2011 edition, p. 95). Gill's first commission from Kessler was for a set of title-pages and headings for the Grossherzog Wilhelm Ernst Ausgabe of classic German authors. These were Gill's 'earliest typographic work' (Evan Gill, Eric Gill: A Bibliography, no. 302); between the wars he worked frequently for Kessler's Cranach Press.
Provenance:
1) Evan Gill, brother and bibliographer of Eric Gill, listed as 'now in the collection of Evan R. Gill' in The Inscriptional Work of Eric Gill (1964).
2) Sotheby's, London, 14th March 1979, lot 254 (sold for £400 to G. F. Sims, bookseller, Hurst, Berkshire).
3) Property of an English collector.