Номер объекта
2016/6
Название
The Basket Maker,
Создатель
Описание
Unframed engraving by Stanley Anderson RA (1884-1966), titled ‘The Basket Maker’. Produced in 1942, the print is an edition of 50. Signed in pencil “Ed: 50 Stanley Anderson”. The print shows a basket maker at work. The basket maker is identified as Thame basket maker William Youens Fleet. Fleet is seated on the floor at his sloping lap board making a half-bushel basket surrounded by bundles of willow and most of his tools lie ready to hand on the floor. There is a weight inside the basket to hold it in place on the lap board and to the front side is a maul used to beat down the weave during the making of the basket. Behind Fleet is a pincher on a crate and on his right are a solid bodkin, a picking knife, shears, a hand knife and a hammer. Finished baskets can be seen on crates in the background of the print.
Anderson has printed a line of text below the image; it reads “There is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works. Ecclesiastes 3”. The quote is taken from the Bible Book of Ecclesiastes 3.22. Anderson’s monogram featuring the initials “SA” within a triangle is engraved on the bottom right within the plate.
This engraving is part of Anderson’s ‘English Country Crafts’ series (1933-1953), for which he is best known. The series features workers and craftspeople of traditional farming and handiwork practices. After the outbreak of the Second World War, Anderson gave up his studio in London and went to live in the small village of Towersey, not far from Thame on the Eastern boundary of Oxfordshire. It was here that Anderson knew and befriended many of the subjects who appear in the ‘English Country Crafts’ series.
The print was purchased with the support of the Art Fund.
Физическое описание
1 unframed print, produced by line engraving. Paper and ink.
Архивная история
Purchased at auction from Rosberys, London. Lot number 39 in the Modern & Contemporary Prints, Photography, Multiples & Editions sale held on 21st November 2015. The vendor’s parents are residents of the village of Towersey in Oxfordshire; they purchased the print directly from the artist. The print was purchased with the support of the Art Fund.
Although acquired in 2016, the museum first exhibited a print of ‘The Basket Maker’ in the 1958 exhibition ‘The Craftsmen and his Tools’. This was a different individual print from within the same edition of 50. At the time, it was borrowed directly from the artist. In the 1958 exhibition, Anderson’s engravings were displayed alongside a loan of agricultural hand tools from the R.A. Salaman collection.
Fleet was almost certainly related to the Maltby family (descendants of the Youens) who monopolised the chair seating industry in nearby High Wycombe, a centre of chair making. The Museum holds examples of Maltby-made seats.
Место изготовления
Thame
Дата
1942 - 1942
Наименование
Материал
Техника
Размерность
- Height 16.8 cm
- Width 16.5 cm
