A Victorian Album of Original Collages
Anon
(Avoca, Wicklow?). c.1880
Sold
An extraordinary personal Victorian album of intricate original collages likely produced in Ireland.
Produced by an unknown hand, the large album contains twelve original collages, each an elaborate composition, consisting of hand-coloured figures cut from contemporary magazines and drawing books, sprigs of heather and other foliage, additional coloured silk balls as highlights for the foliage, an Irish harp of gold foil, paper shamrocks, white lace, nacré snail shells, small sheets with additional manuscript, engraved scenes and one remarkable figure of a nun with rosary of black cloth and lace and so on. Each collage, save those for the front and rear pastedowns, is applied to thick doubled paper and bordered with different colous of silk. The careful and inventive mise en page has each surface of the album covered in a dense, evocative and compelling collection of material and the overall effect is one of considerable charm; the use of trompe l'oeil effects in the compositions demonstrate a clear sophistication and artistic versatility.
An Irish attribution - rather than the 'Album Anglais' of the French spine label - seems likely given some of the material content. The first leaf alludes to Avoca, in County Wicklow, and includes lines - on applied sheets in manuscript - from the poem by the Irish poet and lyricist Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852) 'The Meeting of the Waters'. Those lines, together with the collage that features a large Celtic harp (a cláirseach) in gold and the decorative use of green shamrocks also suggest an Irish origin. The other lines, each written in manuscript and pasted to the sheets with the collage, are presumably also taken from popular verse and song.
Further details of the album and collages are available on request.
Produced by an unknown hand, the large album contains twelve original collages, each an elaborate composition, consisting of hand-coloured figures cut from contemporary magazines and drawing books, sprigs of heather and other foliage, additional coloured silk balls as highlights for the foliage, an Irish harp of gold foil, paper shamrocks, white lace, nacré snail shells, small sheets with additional manuscript, engraved scenes and one remarkable figure of a nun with rosary of black cloth and lace and so on. Each collage, save those for the front and rear pastedowns, is applied to thick doubled paper and bordered with different colous of silk. The careful and inventive mise en page has each surface of the album covered in a dense, evocative and compelling collection of material and the overall effect is one of considerable charm; the use of trompe l'oeil effects in the compositions demonstrate a clear sophistication and artistic versatility.
An Irish attribution - rather than the 'Album Anglais' of the French spine label - seems likely given some of the material content. The first leaf alludes to Avoca, in County Wicklow, and includes lines - on applied sheets in manuscript - from the poem by the Irish poet and lyricist Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852) 'The Meeting of the Waters'. Those lines, together with the collage that features a large Celtic harp (a cláirseach) in gold and the decorative use of green shamrocks also suggest an Irish origin. The other lines, each written in manuscript and pasted to the sheets with the collage, are presumably also taken from popular verse and song.
Further details of the album and collages are available on request.
[10 unnumbered leaves]. Folio. (390 x 310 mm). 12 original collages on inserted sheets (and front and rear pastedowns) of thick doubled paper of various colours with silk borders at spine and outer edge, each with title composed of excised printed letters and with hand-coloured cut-out figures, each decorated with pasted in ferns, flowers, heather and other foliage with additional highlighting of shamrocks and small colour silk and wool balls, several with additional manuscript captions (see below for addition detail for each collage); sheet size: c.375 x 285 mm. Original paper-covered boards, front and rear boards and spine with elaborate collage decoration of green silk and paper, excised letters with hand-colouring, card lozenges, colour vignettes, foliage and additional decorative elements, coarse weave cloth chemise with green leather label with gilt title 'ALBUM ANGLAIS' [sic] and matching slipcase.
#44552
