New Work from Local Printmakers

We have recently updated our stock of work by Contemporary Oxford Printmakers.

Check out our website to view a carefully selected range of work from local printmakers, such as Morna Rhys, Susan Wheeler (left), Jonathan Brett and Ben Pritchard.




Along the Thames
Susan Wheeler
Linocut
2011
Image and Plate 290 x 655 mm

Signed and inscribed in pencil.
Artists Proof

Welcome Back!

As a new term begins Sanders would like to send a warm welcome, or a welcome back, to all freshers and to those returning to the city after a well deserved break.

If your student digs are looking a little drab, and your bored of what the annual poster sale at the union has on offer, then we have a huge range of prints and maps in the gallery that could brighten things up a bit.

A piece of history doesn't have to cost the earth and with sale prints beggining at less than £1 anyone can own and enjoy a genuine antique without breaking the bank.

Pop into the gallery to have a rummage through our sale items or browse the website via section to see the range of stock on offer.




Scholars at a Lecture
after William Hogarth
Etching
c.1790
Image 201 x 169 mm, Plate 215 x 177 mm

'Datur Vacuum' ('Leisure time is given for..') is a pun on 'vacuum', carried out in the expressions of the various auditors. These are scholars at Oxford, wearing square topped, round cloth and felt hats. Alfred D.Godley (Oxford in theEighteenth Century, London 1908, p.164) explains that 'all undergraduates on the foundation of Colleges and all graduates except Doctors of Law, Medicine and Music, wear square trencher caps like our own, but in the case of undergraduates without the tuft of "apex", which has now become a tassel. Commoners and servitors have a round cap with a limp crown; the same kind of headgear, but with a higher crown and more elaborately pleated, is worn by Doctors of Law, Medicine and Music, also by "nobelmen", ...' The reader is supposed to be William Fisher (d.1761) of Jesus College, Oxford, registrar of the University.

Impressions of Oxford

Catalogue of Artist’s prints & drawings of the University city, 1880 -1950.

Since print making began in England, there has been a market for views of Oxford, whether it be separately published views and vue d’optiques or the copious amount of prints produced for the histories and guide books. The first prints of Oxford were made by John Bereblock in 1566 for a small pamphlet for Queen Elizabeth’s visit. Since these initial prints Oxford has been a popular subject. There was a demand within the town and around the world for views to be used in alamanacks, postcards and books, and as printmaking was the only means of reproducing images for publication prior to the invention of the camera, the amount of printed views of Oxford is vast. Depictions of the city created before the invention of the camera were for the large part representational rather than artistic expressions. They had to be representational in order to epitomise and convey the city’s architectural highlight.

As a group of prints, this collection illustrates the progressive shift from “straight” and popular views of Oxford to dominance of the artist’s print. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century we enter a prolific and varied period of English printmaking. Whilst artist are making prints for financial gain, the introduction of the camera and various photomechanical processes freed printmakers from their association with making only reproductive views. There was a resurgence of artists experimenting with different printing methods including woodcut and linocut. The end result is that printmaking in various styles came to be seen as an accredited way of making art. The prints were limited in number, handcrafted or a combination, focusing not on making an exact view but imbuing it with a personal style.

To download the catalogue click here

 

British Empire Throughout the World Exhibited in One View

Antique maps are not only highly attractive decorative objects but also important records documenting history and our ever changing perceptions of the globe.  We have an continuously expanding collection of antique maps available to view and purchase at the gallery, with examples covering every county and continent, and price ranges to suit widely differing budgets.

Its easy to browse our website by area, or pop into the gallery to view first hand.

Fullarton's map of the British Empire, pictured left, is a wonderful example of a map which is both informative and highly decorative.



British Empire Throughout the World Exhibited in One View.
Fullarton, Archibald
Copper engraved with hand colouring
London and Edinburgh: A. Fullarton & Co., c.1872
425 x 530 mm

This double page map is titled British Empire Throughout The World Exhibited In One View. The British possessions are coloured in red as was typical of maps of the period showing the British Empire. It is highly decorative and it appeared in Fullarton's Royal Illustrated Atlas which was first published in 1864 after being issued in 27 parts from 1854-62. Map surrounded by drawings of the inhabitants of each dominion. Tables include size and population of nations around the world.

The date of 1872 is estimated by the Australia map; all the maps are undated and probably date throughout the period 1864 to 1872:

The Light of Science

There are still some fascinating prints available as part of our Light of Science catalogue release.

Please click here to download a copy of the catalogue.

The Light of Science dispelling the Darkness which Covered the World
Henry Thomas De la Beche
Lithograph
c.1832
Image 207 x 315 mm, Sheet 226 x 330 mm

Allegorical illustration showing the figure of a woman wearing an elaborate hat, standing in clouds, shining a gas lamp on the world. The caricature depicts Lady Murchinson, wife of Sir Roderick Impey Murchinson.

Lady Cahrlotte [née Hugonin] Murchison (1788–1869), geologist. She married Roderick Murchison in 1815 and was a partner in his geological researches. She was a lielong friend with the geologist Mary Anning.

Sir Henry Thomas De la Beche FRS (10 February 1796 – 13 April 1855) was an English geologist and palaeontologist who helped pioneer early geological survey methods.

William Nicholson Prints

We currently have a wonderful collection of William Nicholson lithographs, from his famous An Alphabet series (pictured left), to a selection of prints from his An Almanac of Tweleve Sports (below). We also have in stock some of his views of  Oxford, aswell as a stunning graphic advertisement from Les Maitres de l'Affiche and a rare original woodcut.

P for Publican
William Nicholson
Lithograph
1898 [William Heinemann]
Image 247 x 197 mm
Condition: Excellent impression.

Sir William Newzam Prior Nicholson (1872 – 1949) was an English painter, also known for his work as an illustrator and author of children's books.

A student at Hubert von Herkomer's art school, Nicholson is well known for his partnership with his brother-in-law James Pryde. Known as the Beggarstaff Brothers they produced striking graphical work and woodcuts, their poster work being particularly significant historically.

Ahead of his time in his distinctive graphic style, Nicholson's prints are instantly recognisable and can appear as contemporary today as when they first appeared on the market.

Boxing (November)
William Nicholson
Lithograph
Popular edition 1897 (post-dated 1898) William Heinemann
Image 196 x 198 mm

Mapping the Stars

This fascinating celestial map forms part of a collection of magnificent stellar maps from Jamieson’s Celestial Atlas.

Alexander Jamieson’s Celestial Atlas was an attempt to produce a British version of the highly popular atlases of Jean Fortin in France and Johann Bode in Germany. Unlike his predecessors Jamieson allowed himself more artistic freedom in the depiction of his figures and his illustrations are notibly more realistic and pleasing to the eye.

These scarce maps depict the constellations and the allergorical figures associated with them in incredible detail. In the substantial accompanying text Jamieson includes descriptions of the constellations and their orgins in ancient mythology as well as lists of the main stars with positions for the year 1820 and exercises for students.

Cancer. Plate XVI.
Jamieson, Alexander
Copper engraved
Image 179 x 224 mm, Plate 210 x 265 mm, Sheet 230 x 290 mm
Published, February 1, 1822, by G & W Whittakers, Ave Maria Lane, London

Cancer, the Crab, is the first of the Summer signs. According to the Greeks, Jupiter placed this crab among the signs of the zodiac; and it is further represented as the same which Juno sent to bite Hercules while he fought the Hydra in the lake of Lerna, in the Peloponnessus. In the zodiacs of Dendera we find Scarabaeus, or Beetle. In copying the Greeks have given us a crab.

(Description taken from the accompanying text in publication.)