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The Cauldron of Annwn

George Sheringham (1884-1937)



Price
£100,000
Signed
Signed
Medium
Watercolour with bodycolour and gold paint on silk
Dimensions
51 ½ x 19 ½ inches
Provenance
George Sheringham was commissioned to paint these large-scale watercolours on silk by Baron Howard De Walden as illustrations to the Cauldron of Annwn, his dramatic trilogy in verse. They represent two significant strands of late nineteenth and early twentieth-century creativity. Firstly, the choice of subject exemplifies the fascination of artists, composers and writers with ancient myths and their role in culture, as led by the paradigm of Richard Wagner. Secondly, the style epitomises a sophisticated Orientalist approach to decoration, influenced by the French, and applied by such British-based artists as Conder, Dulac and Ricketts to surfaces large and small. The combination of the Celtic and the Oriental in Sheringham’s images suggest a parallel with those dramas of Yeats that present Irish myths through the form of Japanese Noh (dramas for which Dulac produced the designs). As such, they are a particularly fascinating contribution to European symbolism.
Exhibited
'The Long Nineteenth Century: Treasures and Pleasures', March-April 2014, no 172;
'Chris Beetles Summer Show 2025', Chris Beetles Gallery, London, June-September 2025, no 89

Six pieces for sale together:
Playing Music
signed
watercolour with bodycolour and gold paint on silk
58 x 22 1/2 inches

Baptism of Dylan, Son of the Wave
signed
watercolour with bodycolour and gold paint on silk
22 1/2 x 58 inches

The Tale of Kynon, the Son of Clydno when King rthur was at Caerllan upon Usk
signed
watercolour with bodycolour and gold paint on silk
51 1/2 x 19 1/2 inches

Branwen
signed
watercolour with bodycolour and gold paint on silk
58 x 22 1/2 inches

Peredur and the Serpent of the Mount of Morning
signed
watercolour with bodycolour and gold paint on silk
51 1/2 x 19 1/2 inches

A Dragon Passing over Travellers
signed
watercolour with bodycolour and gold paint on silk
21 1/2 x 45 inches (lunette)

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