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Not currently on display at the V&A

Le Morte Darthur

Drawing
ca.1893-4 (made)
Artist/Maker
Beardsley, Aubrey Vincent (artist)
Place of origin
London (made)

A drawing in black ink on white paper depicting a stylised image of a knight holding an object that is perhaps a knight's standard (pennon). There are stylised flowers and plants surrounding the knight and there are also trees in the background.


Object details

Categories
Drawings
Books
Illustration
Myths & Legends
Designs
Object type
Drawing
TitleLe Morte Darthur (series title)
Materials and techniques
Pen and ink on paper
Paper
Ink
Drawing
Brief description
Drawing by Aubrey Beardsley, design for the chapter heading of Chapter X, book IV (p.121 of Vol. I and elsewhere), in Thomas Malory, 'Le Morte Darthur', pen and ink, London, ca.1893-4
Physical description
A drawing in black ink on white paper depicting a stylised image of a knight holding an object that is perhaps a knight's standard (pennon). There are stylised flowers and plants surrounding the knight and there are also trees in the background.
Dimensions
  • Sheet height: 14.3cm
  • Sheet width: 6.1cm
  • Image height: 141mm
  • Image width: 59mm
Pasted onto sheet: 38.2 x 28.9 cm
Object history
Beardsley was commissioned by J. M. Dent to produce illustrations for his intended republication of Malory's romantic tale 'Le Morte Darthur'; it was Beardsley's first commission. This design was for the chapter-heading of Chapter X, Book IV, of 'Le Morte Darthur' which was published between 1893-4 by Dent.
Subjects depicted
Knight
Flowers
Trees
Associations
J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd.
Thomas Malory
Literary reference'Le Morte Darthur' by Thomas Malory
Bibliographic references
  • Calloway, Stephen. Aubrey Beardsley. London: V & A Publications, 1998. 224pp, illus. ISBN: 1851772197. chapter 3
  • Linda Gertner Zatlin, Aubrey Beardsley : a catalogue raisonne. New Haven : Yale University Press, [2016] 2 volumes (xxxi, [1], 519, [1] pages; xi, [1], 547, [1] pages) : illustrations (some color) ; 31 cm. ISBN: 9780300111279 The entry is as follows: 436 Knight holding a shield Book IV, chapter x By 17 April 1893 Victoria and Albert Museum, London (D.1822-1904) Pen and Indian ink over pencil on wove paper; 5 11/16 x 2 7/16 inches (144 x 62 mm). INSCRIPTIONS: Verso in pencil: [illegible]; [pencil scribble]: FHE / 4 / 067 / Beardsley / [in brown ink]: D.1822-1904 / [stamp of the National Library in an oval] FLOWERS: Rudbeckia (justice) PROVENANCE: J. M. Dent; Frederick H. Evans; bt. Curtis Gallery; bt. Victoria and Albert Museum on 9 November 1904. EXHIBITION: London 1909b (30-50), 1966-8 (197); New York 1967 (59); Tokyo 1983 (11); Munich 1984 (54); Rome 1985 (3.7). LITERATURE: Vallance 1897 (p.202), 1909 (no.59.xx); Gallatin 1945 (no. 345-624); Reade 1967 (p.317 n.78); Samuels Lasner 1995 (no.22). REPRODUCED: Le Morte Darthur, 1893-4 (p.121); Reade 1967 (plate 77). Repeated in Book X, chapter Ixix, p. 596. The figure’s stasis makes Burne-Jones’s influence the strongest in this drawing (Reade 1967, p.317 n.78). Beardsley varied the heads of his stylised flowers and most have fewer petals than these. On the verso there is a faint sketch of a figure kneeling or bending to the right, the left leg higher than the right. The shield may have influenced Margaret MacDonald’s illustration of a scene for Book XI, The Odyssey (1899). For further comment on the densely petalled stylised flowers, see no. 359 above.
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
D.1822-1904

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O860384/le-morte-darthur-drawing-beardsley-aubrey-vincent/
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