1979 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
When he was commissioned to design murals for the platforms of Charing Cross underground station, artist David Gentleman (born 1930) chose as his theme the building of the medieval Charing Cross, one of the twelve memorial crosses commemorating Queen Eleanor (who died in 1290). He devised a scheme to take into account the architecture of the station, allowing spaces for entrances and exits and litter bins (as shown in this example). He collaged together nearly 50 wood engravings which were then screen-printed onto melamine sheets by Perstorp Waterite Limited. This was the first large-scale application of wood engraving.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Wood-engraving, black and red ink, blue crayon and photo-mechanical transfer, overlaid with clear plastic film |
| Brief description | Wood engraved proofs of design for the mural decorations for the Northern Line platforms at Charing Cross station, by David Gentleman; British, 1979 |
| Physical description | Wood-engraved proof of design for the mural decorations for the Northern Line platforms at Charing Cross station, showing a group of four medieval masons laying the base of one of the Eleanor Crosses. Tools of various kinds lie on the floor, along with a stone bearing the carved arms of Eleanor of Acquitaine. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Proof |
| Gallery label |
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| Object history | Acquired in connection with the display A Fine Line - Commercial Wood Engraving in Britain, V&A, 10 October 1994 - 26 March 1995. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Place depicted | |
| Summary | When he was commissioned to design murals for the platforms of Charing Cross underground station, artist David Gentleman (born 1930) chose as his theme the building of the medieval Charing Cross, one of the twelve memorial crosses commemorating Queen Eleanor (who died in 1290). He devised a scheme to take into account the architecture of the station, allowing spaces for entrances and exits and litter bins (as shown in this example). He collaged together nearly 50 wood engravings which were then screen-printed onto melamine sheets by Perstorp Waterite Limited. This was the first large-scale application of wood engraving. |
| Bibliographic reference | Gentleman, David. A Cross for Queen Eleanor. London, 1979. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.777-1994 |
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| Record created | July 22, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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