Last Chance to see...

You only have a few days left to see our mini-exhibition of rare Japanese Surimono woodblock prints.  The exhibition will be on display in the gallery until the end of Sunday 1st April.

Surimono is the name given to a type of privately published Japanese woodblock print that became especially popular in the first third of the nineteenth century. Literally meaning “printed object”, surimono can refer to text, pictures, or frequently, a combination of the two. Often experimental in nature and published in limited numbers these works were produced without the restraints of commericial ukiyo-e printmaking, resulting in deluxe prints with an abundant use of gold and silver pigments, delicate and complicated colour palettes, elaborate embossing and complicated designs.

In this exhibition we present a collection of original surimono alongside high quality Akashi surimono printed during the Meiji period.

Oxford Books

Although we predominantly deal in antiquarian prints and maps we do have a great little selection of Illustrated,  Oxford related books. From 19th Century guides to the city to high quality aquatinted views of the colleges such as this example by Malton:

Second enlarged edition. 24 Aquatints and 6 line engravings. Fine condition throughout with almost no foxing. A hand-written inscription by Anthony Gardner at the back of the book reveals it was restored in July 1968, half-bound in Japanese hand-made paper and Nigerian goatskin.

Thomas Malton came from an artistic family, both his father and his brother James were accomplished architects and architectural draughtsmen. Thomas Malton gave drawing lessons from his London flat in Conduit Street between 1783 and 1789 and amongst his pupils was the young J.M.W. Turner.

Malton's Views of Oxford was one of the most important aquatint books; however, the work was never completed as Malton dies in 1804 just after he published six of the engravings for the fourth part of the work. Six plates had already been engraved in etched state in preparation for the next part and these unfinished plates appeared together with the 24 aquatints when the entire work was reprinted in 1810.

The present copy comprises of the full set of 24 aquatints and six etchings with the amended 1810 title page.

Print du Jour

This Spy portrait of, the Jockey, Daniel Aloysius Maher, forms part of our growing collection of Vanity Fair Portraits.

Danny [Daniel Aloysius Maher] 
Spy [Sir Leslie Ward]
Chromolithograph
Vincent Brooks Day & Son, Lith. Sept.r 10th, 1903.
Image 340 x 200 mm, Sheet 383 x 261 mm

Daniel Aloysius Maher (1881-1916) was an American Hall of Fame jockey who also became a Champion jockey in Great Britain. Anti-gambling sentiment and restrictions on racing led Maher and other jockeys to leave America for Europe where they quickly made a mark on European racing. In England, Maher won 1,421 races with 25 percent of his mounts. A three time winner of the Epsom Derby, Maher also won the Ascot Gold Cup on two occassions. In 1913, the prolific jockey obtained British citizenship. 

114 years ago to the day - the death of Aubrey Beardsley

The 16th of March marks the death, 114 years ago, of the brilliantly original Aubrey Beardsley.  During his short lifetime his artistic output was immense and his illustrations combining decedent erotica with the grotesque made him a leading figure in the Aesthetic movement and a key contributer to the development of Art Nouveau.

A contemporary of Oscar Wilde and James A. McNeill Whistler his illustrations to the Yellow Book and the Savoy made him a cult figure of the decadent movement.  Beardsley also illustrated Alexander Pope's Rape of the Lock and Oscar Wilde's Salome.  Plagued by tuberculosis throughout his short career the disease eventually took his life at the age of just 25.

New Catalogue of Rare Japanese Surimono

Surimono

A catalogue of privately commissioned original Japanese woodblock prints from the 19th century.

Surimono is the name given to a type of privately published Japanese woodblock print that became especially popular in the first third of the nineteenth century. Literally meaning “printed object”, surimono can refer to text, pictures, or frequently, a combination of the two. Often experimental in nature and published in limited numbers these works were produced without the restraints of commericial ukiyo-e printmaking, resulting in deluxe prints with an abundant use of gold and silver pigments, delicate and complicated colour palettes, elaborate embossing and complicated designs.
In this catalogue we present a collection of original surimono alongside Akashi surimono printed during the Meiji period.
All items are available to purchase now and will be on display in the gallery from the 15th to the 30th of March 2012.

Please click here to download the catalogue.

Print du Jour!

At Sanders we are constantly cataloguing and uploading new material to our ever expanding online catalogue.

This satirical print, depicting a scene from Shakespeare's Hamlet, is one of our latest aquisitions.

Hamlet
Joseph Stadler after Conrad Martin Metz
Published by William Holland, 1809.
Image 350 x 267 mm, Sheet 372 x 291 mm

This print depicts a burlesque scene from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In heavy shadow, the figures are strongly lit by a beam from the Ghost's eye. Hamlet, walking between Marcellus and Horatio, starts back terrified. He is thin, elderly, and ugly, plainly dressed in black; his tricorne is pushed up by his bristling hair.

BM Satires 11446

Ex.Col.: Hon. Christopher Lennox-Boyd
Ex/Col.: Spencer Sisters

Condition: Trimmed. Repaired tear to the top of the sheet; part of the image is affected. Small repaired tear to bottom margin.Loss to top left margin not affecting image.