Elder Mother Tree
Print
1932 (made)
1932 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Arthur Rackham trained at the Lambeth School of Art. He gained experience from a young age as an illustrator by working for the 'Westminster Budget' and other magazines. He worked mainly as an illustrator to Children's books. From the early twentieth century Rackham developed a talent for portraying witches and fairies by employing vivid characterization, which often has an underlying sense of horror. These illustration effectively incorporate fine outlines with a pale palette to create the feeling of another world.
Magical transformation is a common subject in fairy tales. The delicately tinted watercolour illustration to the fairytale 'The Elder Mother Tree' (1845) by Hans Christian Anderson (1805-75) depicts the moment when the Elder Mother appears in an elderflower tree which sprouts from a teapot.Elder trees have long been associated with fairy mythology, and were thought to protect against evil spirits.
Magical transformation is a common subject in fairy tales. The delicately tinted watercolour illustration to the fairytale 'The Elder Mother Tree' (1845) by Hans Christian Anderson (1805-75) depicts the moment when the Elder Mother appears in an elderflower tree which sprouts from a teapot.Elder trees have long been associated with fairy mythology, and were thought to protect against evil spirits.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Titles |
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| Materials and techniques | Pen and ink and watercolour on paper laid on to card |
| Brief description | Illustration for "Elder Mother Tree" from Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales, Arthur Rackham, pen and ink and watercolour, 1932. |
| Physical description | Pen and ink and watercolour illustration to "The Elder Mother Tree". The watercolour in fine washes of greens with red, pink and black, shows the Elder Mother as an elderly woman at the moment that she appears in an elder tree, growing out of a teapot. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Brigadier W. E. Clark |
| Object history | Bequeathed by Brigadier W. E. Clark in 1969. |
| Historical context | The works of the Danish author of children's stories Hans Christian Andersen (1805-75) were already popular in England by the time of his first visit in 1847, and remain much read. |
| Summary | Arthur Rackham trained at the Lambeth School of Art. He gained experience from a young age as an illustrator by working for the 'Westminster Budget' and other magazines. He worked mainly as an illustrator to Children's books. From the early twentieth century Rackham developed a talent for portraying witches and fairies by employing vivid characterization, which often has an underlying sense of horror. These illustration effectively incorporate fine outlines with a pale palette to create the feeling of another world. Magical transformation is a common subject in fairy tales. The delicately tinted watercolour illustration to the fairytale 'The Elder Mother Tree' (1845) by Hans Christian Anderson (1805-75) depicts the moment when the Elder Mother appears in an elderflower tree which sprouts from a teapot.Elder trees have long been associated with fairy mythology, and were thought to protect against evil spirits. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.170-1969 |
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| Record created | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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