The very large bookplate for the architect Harold Desbrowe-Annear, influential in the Australian Arts and Crafts movement
Image size 152 × 128 mm, sheet size 173 × 136 mm; two partial finger prints (lightly inked) on the recto (with some large ones on the verso); in excellent condition (but see below).
Peake 100 (calling for a woodcut, and reproducing it - slightly enlarged - on page 31). Mervyn Napier Waller (1893-1972) is best known for his book illustrations, murals, mosaics, and stained glass work (some produced in collaboration with his wife Christian Waller née Yandell). The National Gallery of Victoria has a signed example, described as a linocut. Our example appears to be a process print with a hairline crack down the centre of the image, and slight loss in the printing process to the right bottom edge. The illustration in Peake has the same imperfections; the digitized example in the NGV does not. The connection between the Wallers and Desbrowe-Annear is not without interest: Napier Waller House and Studio in the Melbourne suburb of Ivanhoe 'is of state significance. The house was the residence of nationally renowned artists Christian and Napier Waller for fifty years. Now understood to be Desbrowe-Annear inspired, the couple are believed to have designed the house' (federationhome.com). Provenance: H.B. (Harry) Muir (1909-1992), bookseller, publisher and bookplate collector; by descent.
Item #133746
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