This is a very rare etching by the Scottish artist Robert Bryden.
It is an unusual work by him but one of local interest.
The image is divided into two pictorial sections - the bottom image shows Edwardian coal miners toiling in the dark of an Aryshire pit over 100 years ago. Two miners are shown at the coalface - one collier holds a primitive lamp and has stopped to see the progress of the coal seam. He has been working the coal with a heavy metal pick. You can see how there were few safety concerns in Scottish pits at the start of the 20th century - he has no hard helmet in case of pit roof falls - and wears a soft cap. Another miner is seen to the left with a wheeled wooden cart laden with coal - he pushes it along a track.
Bryden contrasts this industrial scene with what is going on above. A smartly dressed middle-class couple is walking in the countryside - probably outside of a large gated house paid for by the labour of the workers toiling below. The landowners are dressed in finery and unlike the two workers down in the dark recesses - they are out in the sunshine with hardly a care in the world.
Images of Scottish mine working are quite rare - and I cannot find another impression of this interesting work by Bryden - it is signed by him, bottom right.
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 1911, lower right (top image section). It must be an early limited edition 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, in 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.
This work will be posted to you with Royal Mail Special Delivery - this will cost £10 and applied to your order at the checkout.