Description: Piers Plowman by Bernard Sleigh (1872-1954), a pre-Raphaelite chiaroscuro woodcut engraving, c.1904. Two-color woodcut printed in black and brown on heavy wove paper for the Victorian quarterly magazine - "The Artist Engraver", Plate XIX, 1904. Signed in the plate. Includes the descriptive sheet for this print from "The Artist Engraver." Offered unframed and unmatted. Full sheet size: 13.5" x 16.75". Plate size: 8" x 15". Descriptive sheet size: 13 5/8" x 17 1/4". Bernard Sleigh was an illustrator, wood engraver, stained glass artist, cartographer, mural painter and teacher. He was born in Kings Norton in 1872, but left school at aged 14 to apprentice as a wood engraver and then attended the Birmingham School of Arts and Crafts, where he specialized in wood engraving and book illustration. It was here that he studied with Arthur Gaskin and assisted him in the cutting of some 100 woodcuts to illustrate his two-volume edition of Hans Christian Andersen's "Stories and Fairy Tales." He was greatly influenced by the Arts & Crafts Movement of William Morris and John Ruskin and was a proponent of the idea that craftsmanship should be considered as an art form. As well as illustrating poems and books, he also designed stained glass windows for churches, mural painting, and was fascinated by the concept of fairies. He is perhaps best known for his "An Ancient Mappe Of Fairyland, Newly Discovered And Set Forth" (1918), a lithograph of a birds-eye topographical view of a fantasy island of fairies. In this detailed woodcut, Sleigh portrays an image from the middle English allegorical poem by William Langland, "William's Vision of Piers Plowman", which was originally written in about 1380. This is considered to be one of the most important works of English literature from the middle ages, and may have influenced Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales." In this poem, the narrator, Will, endeavors through a series of dream visions to seek out the truth of how to live a good Christian life, frequently through the eyes of a farm laborer, Piers (Peter or Peterkin) the Plowman, and other figures, such as Conscience, both of whom are portrayed in this print. Excellent condition, please view photos for details.
Price: 195 USD
Location: Quechee, Vermont
End Time: 2024-11-28T21:25:38.000Z
Shipping Cost: N/A USD
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Item Specifics
Restocking Fee: No
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 14 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Type: Print
Year of Production: 1904
Artist: Bernard Sleigh
Theme: Fairy Tales, Fantasy, People
Style: Illustration Art
Material: Matte Paper
Production Technique: Woodcut Printing
Framing: Unframed
Country/Region of Manufacture: United Kingdom
Subject: Biblical, Farming, Working Life
Time Period Produced: 1900-1924
