A Masterpiece of English Art Nouveau: a Silver Bookbinding designed by a Woman Artist (1896)

Simpson, Lilian

[WOMAN BINDING DESIGNER]. IMPORTANT SILVER ELECTROPLATE ART NOUVEAU BOOKBINDING COVER

London: The Artist for the Members of the Art Union of London, 1896. Size: 490 x 243 (including buckle and protruding pin). Three pierced silver electroplate panels plus hinged buckle. All three pieces engraved at foot of the upper, lower and spine panels "ART UNION OF LONDON 1ST JANUARY 1896." INGENIOUSLY DESIGNED designed black protective cloth case by Cloverleaf: using ORIGINAL metal brads and supplementary ties, the bookbinding cover has been attached to a wooden board covered by blue fabric. This allows the entire assemblage to be easily and safely lifted in or out of the case for research and exhibition. To the back of this wooden board is affixed, with Velcro fabric, a second protective board covered with blue fabric. Finally, a supplementary piece of the same blue fabric has been laid in so that the bookbinding cover is perfectly secure inside its protective case. Fine. Item #4563

THIS SILVER ELECTROPLATE BOOK COVER IS SO BEAUTIFUL THAT IT DEFIES OUR ABILITY TO DESCRIBE IT. IN SHORT, IT IS A MASTERPIECE OF ENGLISH ART NOUVEAU DESIGN IN THE SERVICE OF THE BOOK ARTS, AND VERY FEW EXAMPLES OF IT ARE KNOWN. THIS STUNNING BOOKBINDING COVER WAS DESIGNED AND MODELED BY A YOUNG WOMAN ARTIST WHO DIED TRAGICALLY AT THE AGE OF JUST 25.

The front and back cover panels incorporate two sinuous full-length nude angels (one male, one female) superimposed on stylized tendrils bearing fruit and flowers (see below) with angels emerging from chrysalides at each corners. The spine and clasp feature cherubim crouching and kneeling respectively. The piece is dated at the foot of both silver panels and spine: "Art Union of London 1st. January 1896."

The British Library and V&A examples cover blank albums into which were inserted a letterpress leaf which reads: "The Cover which encloses these pages was designed and modeled by Miss M. Lilian Simpson, on a commission from the Council of the Art Union of London, and gained for the Artist a gold medal in the National Competition of all the Schools of Art under the Science and Art Department in 1894. It was exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1896. The idea embodied in the design is that of the growth of Life (represented by the flowering and fruit) watched over by Spirits (shown in the eight angels), whilst Love (the central figure) kisses the buds into bloom, and, as shown on the clasp, binds together the pages of the Book of Life. This work was issued to the Members of the Art Union of London."

Margaret Lilian Simpson (1871-1896) studied sculpture at the National School of Art, South Kensington, and she was clearly influenced by the British New Sculpture Movement (see Beattie, infra). Rejecting the heavy work of Rodin, these young artists sought to portray the human form naturalistically in vibrant, often exalted poses, while incorporating certain stylized elements of Art Nouveau. The present piece represents Simpson's first major work and it won her first prize in the 1894 Art Union National competition; the judges described it as an "imaginative modeled design for a book cover, which will be executed in silver, and issued as prized to members." It also indirectly led to her untimely death, because the bespoke prize came with a scholarship (and £12 cash) to study sculpture in Italy. To Assisi she went, and there she contracted typhus, and there she died, and there she is buried.

Simpson's model for the present book cover is one of only two that were ever realized, namely a similarly designed but much smaller casket (15 x 19 cm) cast in bronze and exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1896 (see the exhibition catalogue, item no. 1826). "Her career, though shockingly brief, was peculiarly characteristic of her time. It may be argued that the dramatic rise of women sculptors to prominence in the 1890s was directly related to the changing image of the art." (Susan Beattie).

PERMANENT COLLECTIONS; a preliminary census:

1 - Grolier Club; see H. George Fletcher, Judging a Book By Its Cover: Bookbindings from the Collection of the Grolier Club (2023) no. 5.46 (We are grateful to Jon Evans and Rebekah Scoggins for this reference). The Grolier Club copy was previously sold at Toovey's London 3/22/19 lot 4100.
2 - Duke University, Lisa Baskin Collection (covering a blank album with letterpress title-page); see Lisa Baskin et al., Five Hundred Years of Women’s Work.
3 - British Library (covering a blank album with letterpress title-page);
4 - Victoria & Albert Museum; see Maurice Rheims, L'Art 1900 ou le style Jules Verne, no. 528 (We are grateful to Morgan Gieringer and Meagan May for this reference) and An Illustrated Record of the Retrospective Exhibition held at South Kensington (1896) plate 143;
5 - Royal Collections Trust;
6 - Cheltenham Collections; see Carruthers and Greensted, Simplicity or Splendour. Arts and Crafts Living: Objects from the Cheltenham Collections Cheltenham (1999), pp. 143-144, item 183.
7 - Univ. North Texas, Denton (through our agency).

EXAMPLES AT AUCTION; a preliminary census:

NB: It is likely that one or more examples in the preliminary census above are also found in the list below. Furthermore, at least one example (e.g. no. 6 below) has appeared at auction twice:

1 - Sotheby's London 5/3/1966 lot 168 (buyer: Alan Thomas);
2 - Sotheby's London 6/22/1971 lot 333 (covering a blank album in which were written genealogical records and names of guests; buyer: T. Grossmith);
3 - Christie's NY 6/28/2006 lot 597 (Hauck sale) realizing $6000;
4 - Gorringes Auctions (UK) 3/13/2008 lot 1592 (covering a marbled paper box with a handwritten label for the sculptor Sir William Ernest Reynolds-Stephens);
5 - Bonhams Knowle 5/28/2008 lot 117 (covering a blank album);
6 - Lyon and Turnbull Auction: 7 November 2012 lot 215 (covering a blank album) -- resold at Lyon and Turnbull 10/10/18 ("The Contents of Kirkton House") lot 509;
7 - Bonhams London 11/13/2019 lot 18.
8 - Bonhams London 2/18/26 lot 135 (ex-Jeremy Mason Oscar Wilde Collection) -- the present copy.

§ SELECTED LITERATURE: Marianne Tidcombe, Women Bookbinders, 1880-1920 (London, 1996) p. 89 and pl. 14 (we are grateful to Rob Fleck for this reference). The still-hacked British Library Bookbindings Database provided images of the BL example; fortunately the images were saved and posted online by the editors of VictorianWeb and may be consulted there. Susan Beattie, The New Sculpture pp. 194-195 (we are grateful to Jon Evans and Emma Jackson for this reference).

Price: $18,500.00