RACKHAM, Arthur (1867-1939). "There needed but little change, for they were already a scaly set of rascals," original watercolor and pen and ink drawing, signed ("Rackham") lower right [1922].
A striking and unusual underwater scene. Hawthorne's fable, "The Miraculous Pitcher," is an adaption of Ovid's story of Baucis and Philemon, the poor old couple who showed hospitality to the gods in disguise and were rewarded with transformation into intertwining trees upon their death. Their less gracious neighbors, however, were all turned into fishes, "the coldest-blooded beings in existence." Rackham's depiction is quite humorous, with moping, scolding, and angry fishes and crustaceans in human clothes, and one bemused eel in the corner, apparently a "real" fish. Published: HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel (1804-1864). A Wonder Book. London: Hodder & Stoughton, [1922], color plate at p. 162.
255 x 178mm, watercolor and pen and ink on paper mounted to illustration board, additionally inscribed by Rackham with his Primrose Hill address on the verso. Matted, glazed and framed.
RACKHAM, Arthur (1867-1939). "There needed but little change, for they were already a scaly set of rascals," original watercolor and pen and ink drawing, signed ("Rackham") lower right [1922].
A striking and unusual underwater scene. Hawthorne's fable, "The Miraculous Pitcher," is an adaption of Ovid's story of Baucis and Philemon, the poor old couple who showed hospitality to the gods in disguise and were rewarded with transformation into intertwining trees upon their death. Their less gracious neighbors, however, were all turned into fishes, "the coldest-blooded beings in existence." Rackham's depiction is quite humorous, with moping, scolding, and angry fishes and crustaceans in human clothes, and one bemused eel in the corner, apparently a "real" fish. Published: HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel (1804-1864). A Wonder Book. London: Hodder & Stoughton, [1922], color plate at p. 162.
255 x 178mm, watercolor and pen and ink on paper mounted to illustration board, additionally inscribed by Rackham with his Primrose Hill address on the verso. Matted, glazed and framed.
![RACKHAM, Arthur (1867-1939). "There needed but little change, for they were already a scaly set of rascals," original watercolor and pen and ink drawing, signed ("Rackham") lower right [1922].](https://devapim.christies.com/uat/lot-images/6173178/2018/NYR/2018_NYR_16392_0118_000(rackham_arthur_there_needed_but_little_change_for_they_were_already_a094730).jpg?maxwidth=3840)