£2,500

Original wood-block (engraved by W.M.R. Quick), together with an original wood-cut,
signed in pencil 5½ × 4¾ in. (14 × 12 cm.)
Provenance: the artist’s estate
Literature: catalogue in preparation by Richard Grenville Clark (no. 16.10)

The Bride was published in the folio Eighteen Drawings (Twyn Barlwn Press, London,1937), in a limited edition of twenty.
We are grateful to Michael Campbell for assistance.
£2,500

Original copper plate and etching framed together plate size 4½ × 8⅜ in. (11.5 × 21.3 cm.)
Provenance: the artist’s family
Literature: A List of Prints with Notes by Frederick Carter, exh. cat., Cartwright Memorial Hall, Bradford, 1916, p. 15, no. 23; Frederick Carter: A Study of his Etchings, Richard Grenville Clark, Guildford, Surrey, 1998, p. 32

Carter was fascinated by the commedia dell’arte, believing that, in contrast to the vulgarised popular representation, its protagonists were part of a profound and rich tradition. In 1916 he exhibited a series of prints on the subject, with accompanying notes. Of A Dance he wrote:‘A design for a ballet pantomime on a very large stage. With hands holding off but yet inviting, the figure in the black velvet dress dances away on her toes from the advances of Pierrot who follows ardently, leaving forlorn and weeping Colombine curled in a heap against the wall’ (A List of Prints with Notes by Frederick Carter, exh. cat., Cartwright Memorial Hall, Bradford, 1916, p. 15, no. 23).
£1,800

Original copper plate and etching framed together plate size 4⅛ × 6¾ in. (10.5 × 17.3 cm.)
Provenance: the artist’s family
Literature: A List of Prints with Notes by Frederick Carter, exh. cat., Cartwright Memorial Hall, Bradford, 1916, p. 17 (no. 29); Frederick Carter: A Study of his Etchings, Richard Grenville Clark, Guildford, Surrey, 1998, p. 38

Thumbnail panels:

Frederick Carter 1883 - 1967

Painter and etcher born in Bradford, Yorkshire. He abandoned an early career as a surveyor and engineer but studied art in Paris, 1904, Antwerp, 1909-10 and London 1908-11, where he learnt his etching techniques under Frank Short. He showed at the RA, ROI, NEAC and was elected ARE in 1912. His artistic life before and after the World War I was centred around the Fitzroy Street area of London, and the Dieppe restaurant in Dean Street. He became a mystic symbolist artist, involved with Aleister Crowley and worked on illustrations for D.H. Lawrence's Apocalypse. He was also a friend of Austin Osmond Spare and helped with his theories of automatic drawing. From 1922 he taught etching at Liverpool School of Art and during the 1930's he abandon printmaking for writing but continued to paint until the late 1950's. His work is in the collections of the BM and V&A. A retrospective exhibition was held at the 20th Century Gallery, Fulham, London, 1998. Richard Grenville Clark's 1998 publication Frederick Carter A.R.G. 1883-1967. A Study of his Etchings catalogues the artist's output and examines each period of his career and techniques.