This is a beautiful colour woodcut etching by Elyse Ashe-Lord (1900-1971) depicting two comical Chinese figures squashed up into a small red boat. Her use of colour in the woodcut is certainly most unusual and very attractive.
It comes from a series of delicate drypoint etchings which were all made by Ashe-Lord in the 30s. She specialised in these delicate drypoint etchings, all delineated with a very fine line.
The artist developed her unique style exclusively around oriental subject matter, and her art was inspired by both Chinese art and various aspects of oriental culture.
Although the artist never actually travelled to China, she used Chinese paintings, embroideries and wall hangings, together with objects from surrounding Eastern countries, as the sources for her images. The highly individual style which Elyse Lord created reflects both this source material and the influences of Art Deco and early 1920’s fashion.
She used a very individual technique with all her prints. She would draw the outline in drypoint etching which would form a "key block". The colours would then be added by using multiple wood blocks coated in vivid coloured inks. It was a difficult process to master and Elyse Lord would always supervise this difficult process of printing her plates and blocks, in person.
Elyse Ashe-Lord exhibited from 1915 through to 1939 with the celebrated Lefevre Gallery in London and had her work published under the auspices of the great London dealer, Alexander Reid.
This delicate etching is in lovely condition and printed on fine Oriental paper much favoured by Lord. It is in excellent condition and all the applied colours are still nice and fresh. It is a harder to find work by Lord - and an attractive one.
It is from an edition of only 75 prints, and although not dated by the artist, must date to around 1935. It is pencil signed by her, lower right.
Frame size is 47 x 41.5 cm. The image size is 17 x 18.5 cm.
The print is entitled The Joy Ride - and shows a Chinese couple squeezed into a tiny red rowing boat. The lady rows as the gentleman looks on. I love the waves - they are very Art Nouveau in form and they look a little to me like Murrle Bennett enamelled brooches. Both are wearing fancy headdresses - so perhaps it is a wedding subject.
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