MARY IRELAND (1891-C.1980) ‘OLD WOMAN SEWING’, CIRCA 1935 appliqué ‘fabric mosaic panel’, painted silk, with applied signature lower right MARY IRELAND, inscribed verso OLD WOMAN SEWING (STUDY FOR ST ANNE IN HOLY FAMILY WITH ANGELS) MARY IRELAND/ 14 GNS (24.5cm x 20cm)
MARY IRELAND (1891-C.1980) OLD LADY IN TRADITIONAL COSTUME, CIRCA 1935 appliqué ‘fabric mosaic panel’, painted silk, with applied signature lower right MARY IRELAND, later framed (24.5cm x 24.5cm)
MARY IRELAND (1891-C.1980) SEATED FIGURE, CIRCA 1935 appliqué ‘fabric mosaic panel’, painted silk, with applied signature lower right MARY IRELAND (24cm x 19cm)
MARY IRELAND (1891-C.1980) STUDY FOR A CHILD’S HEAD pencil and crayon, signed lower left MARY IRELAND and inscribed STUDY FOR A CHILD’S HEAD, USED IN MEMORIAL PANEL (FABRIC MOSAIC) TO G. W. FOR “PRINCESS ELIZABETH FOR YORK CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL”, later frame (18cm x 15.5cm)
MARY IRELAND (1891-C.1980) ARTS & CRAFTS APPLIQUÉ PICTURE, CIRCA 1935 unfinished appliqué ‘fabric mosaic panel’, pencil, tracing paper, 27cm x 22.5cm; together with a PRESENTATION BOOK, containing photographs of the artist and her circle, photographs of her work with inscriptions by Mary Ireland, bound in vellum, 33cm x 23.5cm; and a GROUP OF SIX PRINTING BLOCKS, steel and wood, each bearing image of the artist's work for printing Qty: (8)
MARY IRELAND (1891-C.1980) ‘FAIRYTALE’, CIRCA 1935 appliqué ‘fabric mosaic’ triptych panel, signed verso MARY IRELAND, bears artist’s inscriptions verso ‘FAIRYTALE’/ A FABRIC TRIPTYCH BY MARY IRELAND (Central panel 26.5cm x 29cm; Side panels 26.5cm x 12.5cm)
MARY IRELAND (1891-C.1980) ‘STUDY FOR THE CHILD CHRIST’, DATED 1950 appliqué ‘fabric mosaic panel’, painted silk, with applied signature lower right MARY IRELAND, inscribed verso FABRIC MOSAIC PANEL BY MARY IRELAND OCTOBER 1950/ 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY SILKS (24cm x 19cm) Exhibited: London, Arlington Gallery, 22 Old Bond Street, W1
MARY IRELAND (1891-C.1980) ARTS & CRAFTS APPLIQUÉ PICTURE, CIRCA 1935 appliqué ‘fabric mosaic panel’, painted silk, with applied signature lower right MARY IRELAND (28.5cm x 24.5cm)
MARY IRELAND (1891-C.1980) ‘THE LADY HEARTSEASE’, CIRCA 1935 appliqué fabric mosaic panel, mixed fabrics and painted silk, with applied signature lower left MARY IRELAND, artist’s inscriptions verso FABRIC MOSAIC PANEL BY MARY IRELAND, original frame (34cm x 24cm) Note: Bears further artist’s inscription verso “Woman in a damson velvet gown (TUDOR)/ MARY IRELAND/ 27 JULIAN RD./ FOLKSTONE/ 30gns/ Materials: Background gold-plated silk; Cap:18th century satin velvet…*”
MARY IRELAND (1891-C.1980) ‘THE SHADOW (BLUE & GOLD CLOAK)’, DATED 1935 appliqué ‘fabric mosaic panel’, painted silk, with applied signature lower right MARY IRELAND, in original frame, bears inscription verso FABRIC MOSAIC BY MARY IRELAND SEPT 1935 (ALL MODERN MATERIALS) (23cm x 19cm)
MARY IRELAND (1891-C.1980) COURTING COUPLE, DATED 1932 appliqué ‘fabric mosaic panel’, painted silk, bears inscription verso BOUGHT APPLIED ARTS & HANDIWORK VINCENT SQUARE, DECEMBER 1ST 1932 (23.5cm x 19cm)
MARY IRELAND (1891-C.1980) ‘THE EMBROIDERED KIMONO’, DATED 1935 appliqué fabric mosaic panel, mixed fabrics and painted silk, with applied signature lower right MARY IRELAND, artist’s inscriptions verso FABRIC MOSAIC PANEL BY MARY IRELAND/ APRIL 1935, original frame (34cm x 24cm) Note: Bears further artist’s inscription verso “Exhibited Walker’s Gallery, June/ 35. Subsequently used by Gaumont British in their film of me (G.B. Maguire ’47). The background is modern Japanese (about 50 years old) and the kimono antique Chinese Peking stitch – M.I.”
MARY IRELAND (1891-C.1980) ‘GIRL IN A BLUE GOWN (18TH CENTURY)’, DATED 1936 appliqué ‘fabric mosaic panel’, painted silk, with applied signature lower right MARY IRELAND, inscribed verso N.B. THE BLUE SILK USED IN THIS PICTURE IS ACTUALLY OF THE PERIOD) FABRIC MOSAIC BY MARY IRELAND/ OCTOBER 1936 (30.5cm x 26cm)
MARY IRELAND (1891-C.1980) ‘A SPRING MORNING’, CIRCA 1935 appliqué ‘fabric mosaic panel’, painted silk, original frame, inscribed verso ‘A SPRING MORNING’. FABRIC PICTURE BY MARY IRELAND (32.5cm x 22.5cm)
MARY IRELAND (1891-C.1980) ‘ENCHANTMENT’ TRIPTYCH, DATED 1933 appliqué ‘fabric mosaic panel’, painted silk, with applied signature to left-hand panel MARY IRELAND (Central image 32cm x 36.5cm; Side panels each 32cm x 16cm) Note: Bears further inscription verso “‘Enchantment’ Fabric Mosaic by Mary Ireland, ‘Within A Fairy Ring He Stood/ Amid The Dim Enchanted Wood…/ And Down The Silent Leafy Glade/ There Came A Fair Enchanting Maid’/ Mary Ireland 1933” Mary Ireland was a celebrated British female artist active during the 1930s-1950s, who was influenced by the Birmingham School and in particular the work of Joseph Southall. Although her artistic skills included cartoons, watercolours, stained glass and needlework, she was most noted for her ‘fabric mosaics’ which incorporated fragments of antique textiles into the composition of the picture. Borrowing from the Georgian technique of enhancing an embroidery with painted features, Ireland would hand-paint certain elements (such as the hands and face of figures) onto plain silk, then create the rest of the image from fabric fragments. The textile mosaic approach she subsequently pioneered was uniquely her own. She initially wanted to work in stained glass, but after falling ill from acid poisoning while trying to work and fuse crushed glass, she was forced to change approach. In an interview with the Sunday Sun in 1933 Mary explained her revised thinking: “It was my interest in old fabrics”, she explained, “that was really the beginning. I hated to think of lovely materials ever being destroyed by age and being lost to future generations. Kept away from the air, silks, cottons and woollens retain their colour and their original strength for many years. The idea of framing them behind glass seemed a good way of preserving them, and from this the first fabric picture originated. Since I began friends and even strangers who know my work, have sent me scraps of material from every country in the world, some modern and some very old” (‘A New Art’ Elaine Arnott in Sunday Sun, 12.02.1933) The first antique textile remnant Mary reputedly repurposed was some 18th Century Brocade and she would actively incorporate antique scraps into her pictures well into the 1950s. She particularly admired the late 18th Century fashions but tried to choose scraps that matched the relevant period of the costume in her artwork, and which mimicked the object or effect she was going for: “…These I used for my picture making, cutting and fitting every piece, however tiny, separately. I am always discovering new ways of setting fabric against fabric so that they catch the light from different angles and take upon themselves the appearance of all kinds of things. The pieces are not stuck one on top of the other as in applique work, but inlaid like a pavement of mosaic” (‘A New Art’ Elaine Arnott in Sunday Sun, 12.02.1933) Ireland first exhibited at the Birmingham Spring Art exhibition in 1929, and soon gained notable commissions, for public institutions in the British Isles and overseas, with Queen Mary purchasing a number of works. Ireland also produced several works for religious buildings and arguably her most important work was a large triptych she produced for Bruges Cathedral. After WW2 Mary would stop cutting up and using antique fragments preferring to repair, research and exhibit them instead. However, from newspaper reviews written about her during the 1930s-50s, none appear to have questioned her practice and instead universally praised her for the unique and engaging approach it created. The following collection of works by Mary Ireland have been collected by Paul Reeves over the last 25 years and come from his private collection. Mary Ireland was a celebrated British female artist active during the 1930s-1950s, who was influenced by the Birmingham School and in particular the work of Joseph Southall. Although her artistic skills included cartoons, watercolours, stained glass and needlework, she was most noted for her ‘fabric mosaics’ which incorporated fragments of antique textiles into the composition of the picture. Borrowing from the Georgian technique of enhancing an embroidery with painted features, Ireland would hand-paint certain elements (such as the hands and face of figures) onto plain silk, then create the rest of the image from fabric fragments. The textile mosaic approach she subsequently pioneered was uniquely her own. She initially wanted to work in stained glass, but after falling ill from acid poisoning while trying to work and fuse crushed glass, she was forced to change approach. In an interview with the Sunday Sun in 1933 Mary explained her revised thinking: “It was my interest in old fabrics”, she explained, “that was really the beginning. I hated to think of lovely materials ever being destroyed by age and being lost to future generations. Kept away from the air, silks, cottons and woollens retain their colour and their original strength for many years. The idea of framing them behind glass seemed a good way of preserving them, and from this the first fabric picture originated. Since I began friends and even strangers who know my work, have sent me scraps of material from every country in the world, some modern and some very old” (‘A New Art’ Elaine Arnott in Sunday Sun, 12.02.1933) The first antique textile remnant Mary reputedly repurposed was some 18th Century Brocade and she would actively incorporate antique scraps into her pictures well into the 1950s. She particularly admired the late 18th Century fashions but tried to choose scraps that matched the relevant period of the costume in her artwork, and which mimicked the object or effect she was going for: “…These I used for my picture making, cutting and fitting every piece, however tiny, separately. I am always discovering new ways of setting fabric against fabric so that they catch the light from different angles and take upon themselves the appearance of all kinds of things. The pieces are not stuck one on top of the other as in applique work, but inlaid like a pavement of mosaic” (‘A New Art’ Elaine Arnott in Sunday Sun, 12.02.1933) Ireland first exhibited at the Birmingham Spring Art exhibition in 1929, and soon gained notable commissions, for public institutions in the British Isles and overseas, with Queen Mary purchasing a number of works. Ireland also produced a number of works for religious buildings and arguably her most important work was a large triptych she produced for Bruges Cathedral. After WW2 Mary would stop cutting up and using antique fragments preferring to repair, research and exhibit them instead. However, from newspaper reviews written about her during the 1930s-50s, none appear to have questioned her practice and instead universally praised her for the unique and engaging approach it created. Known exhibitions of Mary Ireland’s artwork (joint and solo): 1929- Birmingham Spring Art Exhibition (inclusion) 1930-Graham Gallery, London (solo) 1931-Graham Gallery, London (solo) 1932- Applied Arts and Handicrafts Exhibition, London (inclusion) 1933- Folkestone Public Library Art Exhibition of Local Artists (inclusion) 1934- Hythe Crafts Guild Exhibition (inclusion) 1934-Reading Art Gallery (inclusion) 1934- Arlington Gallery, London (Joint Exhibition titled ‘3 women’s work’- Lady Gertrude Crawford, Lady Coryndon, Mary Ireland) 1934- East Kent Art Society, Canterbury (inclusion) 1935- Walkers Gallery, London (Joint Exhibition titled ‘4 women’s work’- Lady Gertrude Crawford, Lady Coryndon, Mary Ireland & Miss Nossiter) 1935- Filmed by Gaumont British Magazine creating ‘Girl in Kimono’ from start to finish. 1935-Applied Arts and Handicraft Exhibition, London (inclusion) 1936- Applied Arts and Handicraft Exhibition, London (inclusion) 1936- Walkers Gallery, London (Joint Exhibition with Lady Gertrude Crawford, Lady Coryndon, Mary Ireland & Miss Nossiter) 1936- Royal Institute Galleries Summer Exhibition,London (inclusion) 1936-Pieces exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London 1937- Walkers Gallery, London (solo) 1938- Honor Coryndon’s Exhibition, Horsham (joint) 1939-Walker’s Gallery, London (Joint Exhibition with Dorrie Nossiter, Amy Bond & Contessa Lisa Scopoli) 1939- Society of Women Artists, Royal Institute Galleries, London (inclusion) 1941-Duffield Exhibition, Derby (solo, in aid of the ‘Waifs and Strays Fund for Bombed Babies’) 1942-The Book Club, Crowborough (Solo) 1942-Crowborough (joint in aid of the Red Cross) 1943-The Craft House, Reigate (Solo) 1948-Society of Women Artists, Royal Institute Galleries, London (inclusion) 1949-Society of Women Artists, Royal Institute Galleries, London (inclusion) 1953-Society of Women Artists, Royal Institute Galleries, London (inclusion)
Fabric collage, with watercolour Signed lower right 24.5 x 24.5 cm. (9 5/8 x 9 5/8 in) IMPORTANT: This lot is sold subject to Artists Resale Rights, details of which can be found in our Terms and Conditions.
MARY MORRIS (SCOTTISH FL. 1893-1938) SEASCAPE WITH VESSELS ON THE HORIZON Signed and indistinclty dated 1917?, oil on canvasboard 29.5cm x 39cm (11.5in x 15.5in)
