Sale 2495 - Illustration Art, December 6, 2018

63 c SIR WILLIAM RUSSELL FLINT. “Then in amaze she went back to her chamber, for she laid up the wise saying of her son in her heart.” Illustration for Volume 1, Book 1, page 10 of Homer’s “Odyssey” (London: Medici Society Limited, 1924). Gouache and watercolor on board. 280x228 mm; 11x9 inches, on 15 1 / 4 x10 3 / 4 - inch board. Signed and dated 1914 in lower right corner, verso titled and with publication notes; Flint’s faint pencil notes to margin of recto. Tipped to window matte and framed. Provenance: Fine Art Society of London, 2005, to a private collection. [10,000/15,000] this beautiful and detailed image of penelope weaving her shroud captures the memorable passage from the epic wherein Penelope, awaiting the return of her beloved Odysseus, keeps her many suitors at bay by telling them she will choose one among them, but only when she has finished weaving an intricate burial shroud for Odysseus’s father, Laertes. However, each night she secretly unravels part of her day’s work, thus staving off the inevitable. Looking over her shoulder is her unfaithful lady servant, Melantho, who will eventually reveal the deception to the suitors. The rich coloring and detail show Flint’s masterly hand at its finest.