I don’t claim to have any knowledge of these ‘little works
of art’ I am simply sharing them for your enjoyment. I shared the first part of the
collection and the little I know about them in this
previous post.
Fred Taylor. R.I
I've struggled to enlarge the images because the originals are so
small, but I hope these slightly larger pictures will enable you to see some of
the details. Please leave a comment if you recognise any of the places or know
anything about Photochromes. Actually, please leave a comment even if you
don’t, I love hearing from you.
I'm sure this is Dunster. Terry and went there in May 2013, and I blogged about it here
The same picture in colour (image found on Pinterest)
What about these - any ideas? Could the one at bottom
right be St. Paul's?
Fred Taylor (1875 - 1963)
Educated at Academie Julian, Paris and Goldsmiths College, London.
One of Britain’s foremost poster artists 1908 - 1940s. Best known
for his posters of buildings and architecture. His main clients includedOne of Britain’s foremost poster artists 1908 - 1940s. Best known
the London Underground and the Empire Marketing Board.
Sources;
The London Transport Museum
Livingston, A. & I., Dictionary of
Graphic Design and Designers, 1992, p.187
Replies from readers of my blog (thank you all so
much).
Nicki-ann suggested D5206 (on the first sheet) lookes like Chester and having checked online she is absolutely right. According to Wikipedia, the building is Lockwood’s black-and-white building at Chester Cross.
Sue Imgrund is sure image 5229 (top left – second sheet) is Great Court, Trinity College Cambridge Sue included a link to a postcard published by the Photochrom Co of Royal Tunbridge Wells (the very same company as on a business card found in this album). I assume the postcard was produced from this very image – which adds weight to the fact that this could be a salesman’s sample book.
Darlene Foster and Susan Donaldson agree no 5204 is York
Minster, although Darlene thinks it could be Monk Bar in the foreground while
Susan is sure it is Bootham Bar. Sue is sure she knows where more of these places are. I just need a
little time to check, and then I will share the information with you. (Thanks
Sue)
Further thanks are due to Susan Donaldson for the following information: D. 5205 is Edinburgh, with the castle in the
background and the Scott Monument in the foreground. I found this fairly similar image (c1915) on Pinterest.
Sue also came up trumps with D 5230 (top row, second sheet) which she correctly
identified as the ruins of Dryburgh Abbey, near Dryburgh on the banks of the
River Tweed in the Scottish Borders. I’m so grateful to everyone who helped out
with this, thank you.
Please don’t forget to leave a comment if you know where any of these places are, I would dearly love to find them all.
Several of these look like old English Country Inns, but it doesn’t help me place them. Are you familiar with any of them?
Update: While researching this post, I assumed the above images were
by the Canadian artist John Francis Smith (1868 - 1941). However, after
publishing the post I was contacted by a lady by the name of Patricia Hovenden.
Patricia tells me there were two J. Francis Smiths working at about the same
time. Patricia is the granddaughter of
the English J. Francis Smith and has colour versions of a number of
these drawings.
In accordance with the information received from Patricia, I
can safely assume all the above works are by the English J. Francis Smith. He
was a Liverpudlian who worked for the Liverpool echo he also designed cards as a side line. He
enjoyed painting and sketching Cotswold villages and inns. Patricia didn’t know
her grandfather, but she tells me he died around 1957.
The images so far identified are:
D.5214 Groombridge, Kent
D.5255 The Black Bear Inn, Tewkesbury
D. 5254 (Possibly) The Crown, Evesham
Second sheet, bottom row - without number Matlock Dale, High
Tor.
I am very grateful to
everyone who gets in touch and will always try to correct any
errors I might make. I really want to find out as much as I can about these
little works of art, and I’m thrilled to be finding so many answers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The weather has been glorious of late tempting us to leave
the chores and enjoy some sunshine. On
one such sunny day, we headed to Barrington Court, a National Trust property
less than an hour from where we live. I’ve written about Barrington Court
previously so I won’t bore you with all the details (like the delicious cheese
scones for elevenses or the equally delicious lunch), but I would like to share
some of my photographs. If you are interested in my previous posts, you will
find them here: Autumn at Barrington Court and here: Tiptoe through the Tulips. If you would
like further details about Barrington Court, please visit the National Trust website here.
I like the dreamy quality of this photograph. The unknown (to me) family on the bridge drew my eye, and I couldn't resist snapping a quick shot.
It was a surprise to see roses blooming in April. We have lots of tiny buds on ours but no actual flowers yet.
It was a surprise to see roses blooming in April. We have lots of tiny buds on ours but no actual flowers yet.
A sunny part of the gardens enclosed by tall
brick walls, I wish I could share the delicious aroma of the wallflowers. I don’t know the couple in the photograph they just
happened to wander through as I took it.
As we sat on a bench enjoying the sunshine, this little chap
came to say hello. He is obviously very used to visitors as he was quite unperturbed
when we started taking his photo.
Leaving Terry to enjoy the sun I headed off to one of my
favourite places on the estate. National Trust properties with second-hand
bookshops are the best! This one is usually full of customers but for once I
had it all to myself.
Striding back, book in hand happy as can be! (Photo by Terry Fisher)
What did I buy? The Woodland Gospels by Jeremy Lloyd with
illustrations by Graham Percy. I sold lots of copies of this when I was
trading, so it's nice to finally have one of my own.
Everywhere you turn there is another lovely vista and more beautiful flowers.
We noticed this glorious Clematis just as we were about to
leave. I'm delighted with how sharp my photograph is. Terry is forever trying
to show me how to take better pictures, but I’m never happy to stand still for
very long. He waits until the light is just right or a butterfly settles on a
flower, whereas I want to keep moving. We’ve been married for 47 years in June,
so we are quite used to each other's foibles, it simply means I walk twice as
far as Terry as I double back on myself to see if he is ready to move on. If
you follow this link,
you will be taken to Terry’s blog where you can see what a difference a little
extra patience makes.