Helen Layfield Bradley (1900-1979)
Lot 468

Helen Layfield Bradley (1900-1979)

Winter landscape (On the morning of my tenth birthday)

Closed11 July 2013

Price Realised

GBP 20,000

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Helen Layfield Bradley (1900-1979)
Winter landscape (On the morning of my tenth birthday)
signed HELEN BRADLEY (lower right) and inscribed 'On the morning of my tenth birthday, the postman/came with a big box for me, "whatever can it be" -/"it's come from Holland". I was in such a hurry/to open it I said, "Let us cut the string", but "no" said/Mother, "we never cut string", "I'll help you to undo it"/Inside was a real Dutch costume including a/pair of wooden clogs. The skirt, the pretty white/apron and the velvet bodice fit me perfectly. In/the letter my Dear Aunt Anne had included in/the parcel, she wished I was with her, staying in/a lovely old farm house, and what fun we would/have skating on the frozen canal, and when we became/very good, we would skate all the way to Haarlem/which was a Beautiful Place (sic). We will take Woof/with us - the big, black farm dog, and there he is/watching me trying to skate, and, there's George/with the little girl from the farm, and the year was/1910.' (on a label attached to the backboard)
oil on board
17¼ x 21¼ in. (43.8 x 54 cm.)

with Anvil Gallery (incorporating the Helen Bradley Centre), Cumbria, where purchased by Mr D.A.K. Gibson, 4 October 1977.
with Clark Art Ltd, Cheshire, where purchased by the previous owner, 2007.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, South Kensington, 16 December 2009, lot 27, where acquired by the present owner.