This is one of a small selection of interesting etchings by Robert Bryden that I have for sale in my online shop.
This one has a new acid-free mount on it - as photographed. This is sold UNFRAMED and this is reflected in my price.
This is one of Robert Bryden's illustrations for Burn's poem "Halloween".
Written in 1785 and published the following year, ‘Halloween’ is not Robert Burns’s best-known poem, but it is one of his longest. It focuses on the traditions and activities associated with Halloween in eighteenth-century Scotland.
Old Halloween traditions include cutting of the apple and winnowing of the corn that’s been harvested that autumn. But it also covers the more familiar aspects of the season, including fairies and mischief-making. Although the poem refers to frights, it also emphasizes the fun and joy of the occasion, as an excuse for the family to get together and engage in games, pranks, storytelling, and dancing. The social aspect of Halloween is central to Bryden's finely rendered etching. I have taken lots of images for your inspection.
The scene shows the interior of a cottage. It is Halloween (31st October); the eve of the All Saints Festival. Old practices included toasting nuts, dooking for apples. Children took part in guising with masks and disguises to scare away evil spirits. Turnip lanterns were carved and candles put inside and the lights were displayed in the windows.
According to Burns, Halloween is "thought to be a night when witches, devils, and other mischief-making beings are all abroad on their baneful midnight errands".
Dimensions: The mount size is 34.5 x 39 cm. The image size is 21 x 27 cm.
CONDITION. The print is in excellent antique condition. It has never been framed - and it is here presented with a new cream-coloured acid-free mount. You just have to get a frame of your choice - then you can hang it on display. You can see from my photographs that the sheet the etching is printed on is nice and clean, not laid down and without issue. The print is printed on toned paper with a dark brown (not black) ink.
BIOGRAPHY: Robert Bryden was born in Coylton, Ayshire in 1865. He was educated at Ayr Academy and initially worked as an architectural assistant in the offices of Hunter and Morris.
He moved to London and studied at the Royal College of Art and at the Royal Academy Schools.
He was elected an associate of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers in 1891 and RE in 1899.
He travelled in Spain and Italy and on his return to Ayshire undertook a series of etchings illustrating the poems of the poet, Robert Burns. He loved the history and culture of his native Aryshire and was keen to ensure that much of it was not forgotten. He completed several series of prints featuring special sites of interest.
He produced a number of etchings during his career – but also worked with mezzotint, drypoint and woodcut. In later life, he turned to painting – but it was sculpture that became his main focus. He worked on wood carving and creating bronze memorial panels. He has two bronze portraits of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce which can be seen in Ayr Town Hall.
His work is the prestigious museum collections including the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow; the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the National Portrait Gallery, and the British Museum.
These Burns series etchings are such fine works. My selling price reflects the relative rarity quality of Bryden's outstanding Scottish etching.
An etched portrait of Bryden as a young man (by William Strang) is in the collection of the National Gallery of Scotland.
UK Postage will be for Royal Mail Recorded (Medium Parcel). This will cost £6.95 and applied to your order at the checkout.