ID 377781
Lot 38 | Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt., A.R.A., R.W.S. (Birmingha...
Estimate value
£ 80 000 – 120 000
A folio of twenty letters, the majority illustrated, and seven envelopes. Nineteen letters to the artist's granddaughter Angela Thirkell (née Mackail), and one apparently to his daughter Margaret Mackail (née Burne-Jones).
1. Seaside
Single sheet of blue paper, 5 x 4 ½ in. Inscribed upper right ‘Your loving F.’ and with inscription lower centre ‘Aug 31. 1891 To R’dean’
A drawing of a child in a dress seated on the sand facing the sea. Pen and black ink.
2. Christmas Card
Upright folded card, printed in blue ink ‘ROTTINGDEAN, Nr BRIGHTON’, 7 x 4 ½ in. folded, watermark ‘The/ Westminster/ Note’.
Front: ‘MY DARLING/ A MERRY CHRISTMOUSE/ TO YOU/ FROM YOUR OBEDIENT LOVING BAPAPA.’ A drawing of a cat looking at a fire below. Coloured pencils.
3. Birthday
Upright folded card, printed in blue ink ‘ROTTINGDEAN, Nr BRIGHTON’, 7 x 4 ½ in. folded, watermark ‘The/ Westminster/ Note’.
Front: ‘MY DARLING ANGELA/THANK YOU FOR YOUR/ LETTER. I HAD A NICE BIRTH/ DAY. I PUT ON MY BEST CLOTHS. AND/ SAT IN AN ARMCHA/IR.’ A self-portrait seated in an armchair below. Pencil and coloured pencils.
Inside: ‘I HAD CAKES AND/FRUIT/THE CAKE WAS PLUM CAKE’ a drawing of a fruit cake below. Pencil and coloured pencil. ‘THE FRUIT WAS FIGS’ a drawing of two figs below. Coloured pencils.
Opposite: ‘AND NECTARINES/ THE GIFT OF YOUR PRECIOUS/ MAMA’. A drawing of three nectarines below. Coloured pencils. ‘AND A CIGAR’ a drawing of a cigar below. Coloured pencils.
Back: ‘I WAS VERY HAPPY/IT WAS A BRIGHT DAY/AND DINNER WAS ½/ AN HOUR EARLIER/AND LASTED ½ AN HOUR/ LONGER/ I AM/ YOUR VERY LOVING/BAPAPA’.
4. Cupid
Upright folded card blindstamped ‘ROTTINGDEAN SUSSEX’, 7 x 4 ½ in. folded.
Front: ‘TO ANGELA/DARLING MARGARET/MACKAIL/ FROM EPH/WITH EPH’S LOVE/AND EPH’S BLESSING/CHRISTMAS 1893’. A drawing of a child in a loincloth holding a cat under each arm between the two lines of text. Pencil.
5. Merry Christmas 1
Upright folded card, printed in black ink ‘The Grange, 49, North End Road. West Kensington, W.’, 7 x 4 ½ in. folded, watermark ‘The/ Westminster/ Note’. Inscribed in a banner upper right: ‘A. MERRY. CHRISTMAS/ TO THEE/ MY LITTLE LOVE’. A drawing of a little girl in a blue dress and white apron, standing in profile below. Coloured pencils and watercolour.
With an invitation: ‘Society of Portrait Painters/ New Gallery, Regent Street. The Committee request the honour of the company of _______ at the Private View of the Portrait Exhibition on Wednesday the 17th October 1894. 10 to 6. F.G.Prange. Manager.’ With a large pencil cross out mark over the invitation.
6. Valentine’s day 1
Upright folded card, printed in red ink ‘The Grange, West Kensington, W.’, 7 x 4 ½ in. folded, watermark ‘Imperial/ Treasury/ Delarue’.
On the reverse, top right ‘Feb: 14. 1890’. With a drawing of a bird sitting on a curling line, under which a winged cupid with a bow, and to the right, a bird hit clean through with an arrow, the tail facing upwards. Pen and brown ink.
7. Happy Birthday (pussypie)
Upright folded card, printed in red ink ‘The Grange,/ 49, North End Road,/ West Kensington, W.’, 7 x 4 ½ in. folded, watermark ‘The/ Westminster/ Note’.
Front: ‘MY OWN DARLING/ I WISH YOU MANY HAPPY RETURNS/ OF MY BIRTHDAY/ UNCLE PHIL & MR CHELMINSKI/ ARE TO HAVE A PUSSYPIE FOR/ DINNER.’ A drawing of a cat sunk within the centre of a pie, its face turned away from the viewer, and its tail emerging through a hole in the lower right pie crust below. Pencil.
Inside: ‘I CAN’T EAT PUSSYPIE/ I AM TO HAVE A PUPPYPUDDING/ ALL TO MYSELF/ BECAUSE IT IS MY BIRTHDAY/ I WANT TO SEE YOU/ DO YOU WANT TO SEE ME?’ A drawing of a puppy wrapped up on a plate between the lines of text. Pencil.
Opposite: ‘I LOVE YOU./ ALSO THERE IS DENIS/ I LOVE HIM/ I AM YOUR OWN BAPAPA’. Pencil.
8. Jubilee
Folded blue paper, printed in blue ink ‘The Grange,/ 49, North End Road,/ West Kensington, W.’, 7 x 4 ½ in. folded, watermark ‘Imperial Silurian’.
Front: ‘My darling/ I send you a picture/ of that part of the/ Jubilee procession which/ you did not see I am/ afraid./ There were three/ hundred pussycats/ there – and neither/ you nor Dan nor I/ saw them – so I am/ glad to have a’
Inside: ‘drawing of them./ Her Majesty was very/ much pleased with their/ conduct, which was/ loyal and enthusiastic./ they must have been/ in that part of White/-hall which we could/ not see./ Ma’am has gone away/ and I am quite/ alone.’
Opposite: ‘And sometimes trembling/ for fear Grom should/ come – he is not a/ nice person and is/ very agitating when/ he comes./ Yesterday I saw 2/ baby Donkeys and their/ mamas – I told them/ about Sheba and they/ were shocked and/ quivered all over’
Back: ‘with disgust at such/ conduct – I was glad/ to see how well they/ were being brought up/ by their dear mamas /I send you my love &/ I send Dan my love/ and Clare – of course/ Clare –/ and am/ Your ‘ffectionate/ Bapapa’
With a newspaper cutting including a print of Louis Wain The Cats’ Jubilee.
9. Influenza
Upright folded card, printed in red ink ‘The Grange,/ 49, North End Road,/ West Kensington, W.’, 7 x 4 ½ in. folded, watermark ‘Imperial/ Treasury/ Delarue’.
Front: ‘My darling/ This is a letter from your Bapapa./ (your bapapa)/ to say that Uncle Fil says---/That it will/ pain him/ very much/ if your Papa comes to/ (uncle fil). Three drawings of Angela, Burne-Jones, and Philip Burne-Jones in bed between the lines of text. Pen and brown ink.
Inside: ‘this house, while there is Influenza here/ (This house)/ (Influenza). A drawing of The Grange, seen from North End Road, and a bird representing influenza below. Pen and brown ink. Opposite: ‘for he doesn’t want your papa to/ catch the Influenza./ this, my darling Angela is uncle/ fil’s message to your dear papa./ … which he appreciates the/ visits./ (uncle fil’s appreciation). A drawing of a man catching the influenza bird, and another of a round smiling face, each between lines of text. Pen and brown ink.
Back: ‘but he wants him not to run/ any risk.’/ (a risk)/ And oh give seven kisses to/ your dear mâmi for me./ (7 kisses)/ and I can’t draw your mâmi/ pretty enough./ I am your dear/ apapa’. A drawing of a spiked ball representing risk, and seven roses representing seven kisses, each between lines of text. Pen and brown ink.
10. Caught a bad cold
Upright folded card, printed in blue ink ‘The Grange,/ 49, North End Road,/ West Kensington, W.’, 7 x 4 ½ in. folded, watermark ‘The/ Westminster/ Note’.
Front: ‘MY DARLING/ I HAVE/ CAUGHT A/ BAD COLD’. A self-portrait seated in a chair, wrapped in a blanket, a bottle labelled ‘THE MIX/TUR[E]’ on a side table. Pencil and coloured pencils. Inside: ‘I SAW IT WALKING DOWN/ THE STREET AND RAN/ AFTER IT AND CAUGHT/ IT’. A drawing of a man catching a blue ghoulish figure below. Pencil and coloured pencils.
Opposite: ‘AND BROUGHT IT HOME/ TO STAY A FEW DAYS/ WITH ME. AND NOW I/ AM SORRY FOR I CANNOT/ GO TO SEE MY DARLINGS/ YOUR POOR/ BAPAPA.’ Drawings of medicine, a hot water bottle and a cup of beef tea below, inscribed ‘THE/ MIX/TURE/ THE HOT BOTTLE/ THE BEEF TEA’. Pencil and coloured pencils.
Back: ‘THE RICE PUDDING/ THE POWDER (WITH JAM)’. Drawings of a dish of rice pudding and a spoon of jam. Pencil and coloured pencils.
11. Come to visit
Upright folded card, printed in red ink ‘ROTTINGDEAN,/ Nr BRIGHTON’ , 7 x 4 ½ in. folded, watermark ‘Parkins & Gotto’s/ ‘Government’/ Note’. With date: ‘July 22 - 1891’ (upper right, probably in Angela Thirkell’s hand)
Front: ‘O my darling girl/ I don’t like being away/ from you. /Djacy [?] has just gone/ away./ It is very nice & quiet here/ and I long for you to come./ I am sitting in ‘Mermaid’/ it is 8 o’clock. I have/ cognac & baccy. but that/ cannot console me./ The garden is so green and pretty’ Inside: ‘Angela pulled my painting/ water over to-day – I am so/ please.[?]/ Could you bring her tiger/ down, or is it too big?/ Your loving F’. A drawing of Angela reaching up to put her hand in a bowl of painting water between the lines of text. Pen and black ink.
12. Birthday card (nosegay)
Folded upright card printed in red ink ‘The Grange,/ 49, North End Road,/ West Kensington, W.’, 7 x 4 ½ in. folded, watermark ‘The/ Westminster/ Note’. Coloured pencils.
Front: ‘My Little Darling./ my soft pet./ Here is a nosegay I gathered/ from our garden here, for your/ birthday.’ A drawing of a posy of flowers below. Coloured pencils.
Inside: ‘and I send you my love – so/ does Mamama &/ Uncle Phil, & Florence/ and Cabby & Cook and/ William, & Williams’ boy./ Seven people, & me is eight/ people, all sending love/ and I think I shall see/ you to-day/ is the little darling brother/ glad it is your birthday?’
Opposite: ‘Here follows a bird, which disturbed/ me very much this morning by/ Whistling very early, and I told/ it to go away – it said it/ would go away if I would/ promise to give its love to/ you. so I promised.’ A drawing of a small green bird between the lines of text. Coloured pencils.
Back: ‘it is called “the green/ meadow bird” and is/ very fat. it has white/ eggs with little red spots/ at one end – it leads a/ pretty life, & is fond of/ little girls above the age/ of three./ That’s all I know about the/ green meadow Bird./ I am/ Your Loving Bapapa’
13. Picking flowers in the garden
Folded upright paper, 12 ¾ x 8 in. folded. Pencil and coloured pencils.
Front: ‘The Grange./ June the fifth/ Eighteen hundred and ninety two years after the/ nativity./ My little darling/ I am thinking about you a/ great deal – you are a long way from/ me, playing in a garden at Auntie/ Nann’s – gathering nose-gays, and I/ want to see you./ and I can only draw a picture of you/ instead because you are so far away./ I am very well. Mamama is very well.’ A drawing of Angela picking flowers in a garden, wearing a blue dress, between the lines of text. Pencil and coloured pencils.
Inside: ‘This is your little brother – he wants to see you/ he has got out of his cradle to look for/ you – but when his mama and papa told/ him you were busy gathering flowers in a/ garden he was pleased and went back/ again into his little bed to sleep./ He is very good, and knows that when/ you come back you will take great/ care of him, and this pleases him to/ lie and think of.’ A drawing of a small child standing beside a cradle and a breakfast table above. Pencil and coloured pencils.
Opposite: ‘and when you go to MILKFORD you can/ take him to see ducks in a pond,/ and teach him to say QUACK QUACK/ which will give him great pleasure./ and make a nice summer for him./ and I like to think of it.’ A drawing of Angela holding a baby beside a duck pond above. Pencil and coloured pencils.
Back: ‘The Cook is very well and makes a pudding/ everyday, and Robert the parrot is very/ well and whistles all day long – and/ Uncle Fil is very well/ And I am/Your loving Bapapa.’ A self-portrait seated in an armchair, reading a letter below. Pencil and coloured pencils.
14. Come visit
Folded upright paper, 12 ¾ x 8 in. folded. With date ‘19 Feb. 1892’ (upper right, probably in Angela Thirkell’s hand).
Front: ‘Oh my little darling/ I want to see oo again – / Will oo come one day and see me/ and play with me./ Now this letter I shall give to the/ postman to carry to you – because that/ other letter was read by other people/ first and I dont think that quite/ fair – so the postman will carry this/ straight to your little window.’ A self portrait lying in bed, with Angela standing beside, between the lines of text. Pencil and coloured pencils.
Inside opposite: ‘When he reaches the direction he will/ stop at your house and rat-tat at/ the door – and say “this is for Miss/ Angela Mackail.”’ A drawing of an angel holding an oversized envelope, in front of a house with a black cat on the pavement, and a blank figure opening the door on the left hand page, and the angel handing the letter through the door, with several figures looking through the windows of the house on the right hand page. Pencil and coloured pencils.
Back: ‘But it isn’t easy to draw pictures in/ bed and I cant make them pretty/ for you to-day./ But I am always your ’ffectionate Bapapa-‘. A self-portrait drawing in bed between the lines of text. Pencil.
15. Invite to tea
Folded upright paper, 12 ¼ x 7 7/8 in. folded. Pencil and coloured pencils. With date ‘7 March 1892’ (upper right, probably in Angela Thirkell’s hand).
Front: ‘My darling Angela./ I send you a little letter/ by a special messenger – if you give him/ three crumbs for his trouble, it will/ be quite enough./ A SPECIAL MESSENGER’. A drawing of a peacock with a flowing tail passing a letter through a window to a small girl below. Pencil and coloured pencils.
Inside: ‘and this letter is to say that I am/ much better, and that I have a/ nice tea ready for you and me/ and Boddle whenever you can come./ Two chairs, one for you and one for/ me, and a carpet for Boddle, and/ we will have a nice long talk.’ A drawing of a tea table with two armchairs beside, and a cat drinking from a saucer between them. Pencil and coloured pencils.
Opposite: ‘and after tea, will you sing to me out of/ a book, and lull me off to sleep – Boddle/ likes to sleep too after tea and during/ music – it will be such a happy time’. A self-portrait asleep in an armchair, beside Angela playing the piano, with a cat asleep on the floor, below. Pencil and coloured pencils.
Back: “and then before it is dark you shall/ go home to your papa and mama/ in a coach – you & mama – and the/ coachman will be careful and be kind/ to the Horse./ always your loving/ BAPAPA.’ A drawing of a horse and carriage being driven by a cherub, with Angela looking through the window, between the lines of text. Pencil and coloured pencils.
16. Christmas Day
Folded upright paper, 12 ¾ x 8 1/8 in. folded. With date ‘Xmas Eve 1891.’ (upper right, probably in Angela Thirkell’s hand).
Front: ‘My darling little Angela/ tomorrow is Christmas day and I must/ send you a letter and tell you all/ about us – I am your Bapapa/ and that poor little Mamama has got/ a bad cold and is in bed.’ Drawings of the artist warming his hands in front of the fire, and his wife in bed, between the lines of text. Pen and black ink.
Inside: ‘and Uncle Phil is here and has/ gone out to see the Miss Riddedales/ skating on the pond./ for the pond is all frozen over and/ on Monday I saw 3 little/ boys who fell into the water/ because the ice broke and/ they cried.’ A drawing of a man standing smoking beside a pond between the lines of text. Pen and black ink.
Opposite: ‘But they came out all safe – but/ their mamas were very angry./ And Cabby is here and takes/ food to poor Mamama’. A drawing of three small boys emerging from a hole in the ice, above, and another of a woman carrying a tray with a steaming bowl, below. Pen and black ink.
Back: ‘and the Miss Riddesdales are now/ skating on the ice/ and Uncle Phil is watching them/ and we all send you our/ love and want to play/ with you – we do –/ Your loving/ Bapapa.’ A drawing of two young women skating on a pond, watched by a man smoking, between the lines of the text. Pen and black ink.
17. Painting with Uncle Phil
Folded upright paper, 12 5/8 x 8 in. folded.
Front: ‘June the Tenth./ In the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and ninety two./ My little darling Angela/ This is your Bapapa painting a picture/ and Uncle Phil painting a picture – and you are sitting/ by the side of Bapapa, helping him to paint his picture/ and telling him what to do./ You have told him to paint a wind-/mill and two ducks – he is trying to do all you/ tell him./ Uncle Phil is painting the face of a/ pretty Lady – we are all very happy.’ A self-portrait from behind at a canvas, Philip Burne-Jones to the right and Angela to the left, a cat on the floor behind, below. Pencil and coloured pencils.
Inside: ‘But when Uncle Phil has finished his picture he will/ go out [for] a walk to see his friends, who will be/ glad he is quite well, and he will ask if/ they are quite well, and be very glad to/ hear them say that they are perfectly well, then/ he will say goodbye to them and come home’. A drawing of Philip Burne-Jones, in an elegant tailcoat and carrying a cane, above. Pencil and coloured pencils.
Opposite: ‘But I should like to take my darling Angela/ a walk – and perhaps as we walked through/ Uxbridge we might see a happy shop where/ kind people sell toys, and I should like/ to buy two toys – one for Angela and one/ for her brother, who likes toys very much/ especially bright ones.’ A self-portrait in a brown suit, holding Angela’s hand and passing a toyshop window, below. Pencil and coloured pencils.
Back: ‘And I send you seven kisses by your kind/ Papa who will give you this letter/ and I hope Auntie Nann is quite well/ and Uncle John and Nanna and/ the horses and dogs and cats and/ pigs – I hope they are all quite/ well and I am/ Your loving Bapapa./also mamama sends you seven kisses.’ A drawing of seven red balls on a string between the lines of text, and one of seven red flowers below. Coloured pencils.
18. Painting and Apple Picking
Upright folded paper, 12 ½ x 8 in. folded.
Front: ‘My little darling/Thank you, I am much/ better, I can sit upright in a chair,/ will you come and see me, and/ read me a tale out of a book-/ and we will have tea together.’ A self-portrait in an armchair beside a tea table, Angela sitting on the floor reading, and a cat listening in the centre, below. Pencil and coloured pencils.
Inside: ‘and by and by when I am strong and/ can make pictures, you shall come and/ be with me in my workroom, while I/ paint a picture of a ship on a sea/ and Boddle shall come too if she/ promises not to touch drawings.’ A self-portrait from behind at a canvas, with Angela beside, and a cat to the left, below. Pencil and coloured pencils.
Opposite: ‘and then when summer comes we/ will go out together, and leave Boddle/ to keep house, and we will go and/ look for flowers and trees with red/ apples.’ A self-portrait carrying Angela picking fruit from an apple tree below. Pencil and coloured pencils.
Back: ‘But I won’t write any more to-day/ my darling – I send you seven/ kisses on a string./ and am your/ ’ffectionate Bapapa.’ A drawing of seven coloured beads on a string below. Pencil and coloured pencils.
19. Sick in bed
Upright folded paper, 12 ¾ x 8 1/8 in. folded.
Front: ‘Tuesday Feb. 16. 1892/ My darling/This is Bapapa in bed/ I want to be up and running/ about and playing with my colour box’. A self-portrait in bed between the lines of text, and a drawing of paint bottles and palette below. Pencil and coloured pencils.
Inside: ‘and I want to finish my/ picture of St Valentine.’ A drawing of St Valentine holding a basket of hearts and surrounded by small birds below. Pencil and coloured pencils.
Opposite: ‘But I must be good and lie still/ and kind doctors will come and/ bring me nice medicine to make me/ well.’ A drawing of two doctors carrying oversized medicine bottles below. Pencil and coloured pencils.
Back: ‘and now I wont draw any more/ because it isn’t easy in bed to/ draw pretty pictures/ and so I send you my love/ and seven kisses/ Your/ ’ffectionate/ Bapapa.’ Drawings of a heart on a stem and seven coloured beads between the lines of text. Coloured pencils.
20. Valentine
Upright folded paper, 12 5/8 x 8 ¼ in. folded.
Front: ‘February the 13.th 1892/ Oh my little darling/ Will you be my Valentine/ tomorrow morning: I send a little/ messenger to ask you to be my/ Valentine/ a messenger’. A drawing of a small green and yellow bird carrying a heart in its beak below. Pen and brown ink and coloured pencils.
Inside: ‘Tomorrow morning all the air will be/ full of little birds, carrying little coral/ hearts to people.’ A drawing of several birds carrying hearts in their beaks, in a street of houses, below. Pen and brown ink and coloured pencils.
Opposite: ‘Will you take care of my heart & put it/ in a box and lock it up, quite/ safe from everybody./ and now I remain/ Your affectionate/ Bapapa.’ A drawing of Angela putting a heart into a box between the lines of text, and a self-portrait painting a heart below. Pen and brown ink and coloured pencils.
Envelopes 1 (group of three small envelopes), 3 ¾ x 4 5/8 in. and smaller.
Blue envelope: ‘Miss Mackail/ Brook/ Nr. Godalming’. Stamp and postage marks dated Aug 97.
Cream envelope: ‘To./ Miss./ Angela Margaret Mackail.’. With date ‘Jan. 30. 1893 (probably in Angela Thirkell’s hand).
Cream envelope: ‘Miss Mackail/27 Young St./Kensington Square’. Lower left corner ‘W’. top right: stamp and postage marks dated 90.
Envelopes 2 (group of three small envelopes), 4 5/8 x 9 ½ in. and smaller.
Large blue envelope: ‘Miss Mackail/Rake/Milford/near/ Goldaming.’ Stamp and various postage marks dated August 30th 1895.
Small cream envelope: ‘Miss Mackail/27 Young Street/Kensington/W’ Stamp and postage mark dated December 24th 1897.
Large white envelope: ‘Miss Mackail/27 Young St./Kensington/W’ Stamp and postage mark dated January 19th 1892’.
Mackail envelope, 3 ¾ x 4 5/8 in.
An envelope opened along the top.
The front: ‘MISS/ MACKAIL/ 27 YOUNG ST/ KENSINGTON’, with drawings of grasses and birds and a circle upper write, inside written ‘KENSINGTON, No. 1[9?] 96’. On the reverse, a drawing of various coloured flowers, all in coloured pencil.
| Artist: | Gustave Moreau (1826 - 1898) |
|---|---|
| Art style: | Symbolism |
| Artist: | Gustave Moreau (1826 - 1898) |
|---|---|
| Art style: | Symbolism |
| Address of auction |
CHRISTIE'S 8 King Street, St. James's SW1Y 6QT London United Kingdom | |
|---|---|---|
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| Lot number | 38 |
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| Auction date | 29.07.2020 |
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| Auction date | 29.07.2020 |
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