The Marriage Feast
Drawing
1863 (made)
1863 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Millais produced over 300 designs for illustration of poems, periodicals, novels, religious literature, and books for children, some of which are in the V&A.
This block is one of a few which Millais drew directly on the wood, and it is of particular interest because it shows the process by which the Dalziel Brothers, wood-engravers who worked alongside Millais on many projects, changed their working process around 1863, date of this block. Millais used the ink to draw, in reverse, directly onto the wood block on a preparation of Chinese white. Afterwards, the Dalziels transferred photographically the image onto another block that they cut in the usual way.
Initially, when the book was published in 1864, the caption was wrongly printed as The Parable of the Marriage Feast (from Luke’s Gospel); it was corrected later as Marriage of the King’s son (from Matthew’s Gospel).
The V&A bought the block directly from the Dalziel Brothers in July 1884.
This block is one of a few which Millais drew directly on the wood, and it is of particular interest because it shows the process by which the Dalziel Brothers, wood-engravers who worked alongside Millais on many projects, changed their working process around 1863, date of this block. Millais used the ink to draw, in reverse, directly onto the wood block on a preparation of Chinese white. Afterwards, the Dalziels transferred photographically the image onto another block that they cut in the usual way.
Initially, when the book was published in 1864, the caption was wrongly printed as The Parable of the Marriage Feast (from Luke’s Gospel); it was corrected later as Marriage of the King’s son (from Matthew’s Gospel).
The V&A bought the block directly from the Dalziel Brothers in July 1884.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | The Marriage Feast (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Pen ank ink on a background of Chinese white on woodblock |
| Brief description | Drawing on woodblock of 'The Marriage Feast' by Millais, England, 19th century. |
| Physical description | Drawing on a woodblock |
| Dimensions |
|
| Summary | Millais produced over 300 designs for illustration of poems, periodicals, novels, religious literature, and books for children, some of which are in the V&A. This block is one of a few which Millais drew directly on the wood, and it is of particular interest because it shows the process by which the Dalziel Brothers, wood-engravers who worked alongside Millais on many projects, changed their working process around 1863, date of this block. Millais used the ink to draw, in reverse, directly onto the wood block on a preparation of Chinese white. Afterwards, the Dalziels transferred photographically the image onto another block that they cut in the usual way. Initially, when the book was published in 1864, the caption was wrongly printed as The Parable of the Marriage Feast (from Luke’s Gospel); it was corrected later as Marriage of the King’s son (from Matthew’s Gospel). The V&A bought the block directly from the Dalziel Brothers in July 1884. |
| Bibliographic reference | Goldman, Paul, John Everett Millais: Illustrator and Narrator, Aldershot: Lund Humphries, 2004. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 1073-1884 |
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| Record created | June 16, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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