ARTHUR RACKHAM, R.W.S. (BRITISH, 1867-1939)
Lot 198

ARTHUR RACKHAM, R.W.S. (BRITISH, 1867-1939)

A princess in a landscape, a turreted castle beyond

Closed28 October 2007

Price Realised

GBP 3,750

More Information

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ARTHUR RACKHAM, R.W.S. (BRITISH, 1867-1939)
A princess in a landscape, a turreted castle beyond
signed 'Arthur Rackham' (lower right)
pencil and watercolour
7½ x 6 in. (19 x 10.7 cm.)

Almost certainly a gift from Arthur Rackham, R.W.S. (1867-1939) to H.R.H. Princess Mary, The Princess Royal, Countess of Harewood (1897-1965) circa 1914.
Acquired from the estate of H.R.H. Princess Mary, The Princess Royal, Countess of Harewood by the Hon. Mr. & Mrs. Gerald Lascelles.
Fort Belvedere, Runnymede, Surrey, 1956-1976.
Virginia Water Cottage, Windsor Great Park, Berkshire.

Specialist note

Arthur Rackham (1867-1939) is best remembered for his success as a painter and illustrator. The rise of his popularity coincided with the beginnings of the fashion for lavishly produced gift books, the most notable of his commissions included his illustrations to The Ingoldsby Legends (1898), Gulliver's Travels (1900), and Grimm's Fairy Tales (1900).
The outbreak of World War I effectively destroyed the illustrated gift book market, but Rackham continued to contribute to charitable publications, of which, perhaps the most important to mention here was his contribution to 'Princess Mary's Gift Book', published by Hodder & Stoughton, in 1914.
Princess Mary was only 17 at the outbreak of the war. She lent her name to a volume of tales and illustrations put together as a charitable effort for the Queen's Wartime "Work for Women" fund. Among the contributing authors were J.M.Barrie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Rudyard Kipling. In addition to Rackham, the illustrators Russell Flint and Edmund Dulac provided drawings for the coloured plates.