Design for title page to Pagan Papers
Drawing
1893 (first published)
1893 (first published)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Two figures, one wearing a shirt and with horns on his head, the other bera-chested with faun-like ears, stand under a tree surrounded by flowers (possibly lillies?).
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Design for title page to <i>Pagan Papers</i> (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Indian ink on paper |
| Brief description | Drawing by Aubrey Beardsley, design for the title-page to Pagan Papers by Kenneth Grahame, published by Elkin Mathews and John Lane, London, December 1893. Pen and ink. |
| Physical description | Two figures, one wearing a shirt and with horns on his head, the other bera-chested with faun-like ears, stand under a tree surrounded by flowers (possibly lillies?). |
| Dimensions |
|
| Style | |
| Production type | Unique |
| Credit line | Purchased with Art Fund support |
| Object history | Provenance: John Lane; R. A. Harari |
| Bibliographic reference | 328
Title page for ‘Pagan Papers’
Autumn 1893
Victoria and Albert Museum, London (E.332-1972)
Pen, brush and Indian ink over traces of pencil on white wove paper secured to backing by slotted hinges; 9 3/16 x 5 inches (234 x 140 mm).
FLOWERS: Stylised flowers, stylised willow tree (freedom)
PROVENANCE: John Lane, bequeathed to Annie (Mrs John) Lane; possibly Lane Library sale Contents of 9 Lancaster Gate, 5-7 July 1927 (592, where listed as ‘Beardsley, Aubrey, 4 original drawings for the Keynotes Series…’); …; W. G. Good (c. 1950); bt. R. A. Harari, by descent to Michael Harari; bt. Victoria and Albert Museum in 1972 with the aid of a contribution from the National Art Collections Fund.
EXHIBITION: London 1966-8 (292), 1993 (100)
LITERATURE: Grahame Pagan Papers 1894 (p. 14); Artist February 1894 (p. 56); Vallance 1897 (p.209), 1909 (no. 67); Gallatin 1945 (no. 844); Reade 1967 (p.335 n.208); Samuels Lasner 1995 (no.53).
REPRODUCED: Title page for Pagan Papers, by Kenneth Grahame, published by Elkin Mathews and John Lane on 30 November 1893; Early Work 1899 (no.121); Reade 1967 (plate 267).
The reviewer for the Artist declares, ‘the naked archaic woman (if woman be intended) and the wild looking horned man form a curiously unsuitable frontispiece’ (February 1894, p.56). In fact, Beardsley took his subject from ‘The Rural Pan’, the sixth ‘paper’ in this volume, a satire on the man-about-town’s spring season. The figure at the left is ‘the young Apollo, the lord of the unerring (satin) bow’ (Grahame Pagan Papers 1894, p.34). He looks at the figure of the rural Pan who may be found in April ‘loitering under Abinger [an area of rural Surrey, UK] pines (p.34). |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.332-1972 |
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| Record created | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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