This is one of three interesting etchings by Robert Bryden that I have for sale in my online shop. All have been newly framed as a matching set.
This is one of Robert Bryden's illustrations for Burn's poem "The Deil's Awa Wi' The Exciseman".
The scene shows the Devil dancing through the streets of Dumfries with his fiddle and carrying away the eponymous exciseman. One of the Devil's cohorts follows behind with a drum. The exciseman is seen being mocked by patrons of the nearby Tappit Hen hostelry. They line the streets and point and jeer.
The song by Robert Burns says that excisemen, who collected taxes on alcohol, and chased smugglers, were bad people who deserved to be taken away by the Devil, and everyone would be so happy they would dance!
At the time he wrote the song Burns was himself serving as an exciseman. He would have been very much aware that tax collection and chasing smugglers was not always a popular occupation.
I have taken lots of images for your inspection.
This is a fine crisp proof impression which is signed in brown ink by the artist and dated 1895, lower right. It is also signed in the plate. The etching is printed in dark brown ink on good-quality paper. It must be an early proof taken from the plate as the lines are rich and dark - and the dark tones very sooty in tone. A finer impression you will struggle to find.
Dimensions: Frame size is 36.5 x 42 cm. Image size is 21 x 27 cm.
CONDITION. The print is in excellent antique condition. It has never been framed - and I have had this framed up for sale with a new cream-coloured acid-free mount and simple black frame. It is beautifully presented and ready to hang straight onto your wall.
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 now hard to source and were printed in small editions of one 50 impressions. My selling price reflects the rarity quality of his 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 Only. This will cost about £10