Artist: Beggarstaff Sir William Nicholson - Enlgish (1872-1949) & James Pryde - Scottish (1866-1941)
Title: A Trip to Chinatown
Plate: PL. 184
Original lithograph from "Les Maitres de L'Affiche" series.
Printed by Imprimerie Chaix, Paris, 1899.
Presented in 16 x 20 in. acid free, archival museum mat, with framing labels. Ready to frame. Shipped boxed flat via Fedex.
Certificate of Authenticity.
Maitre Sheet Size: 11 3/8 in x 15 3/4 in 29 cm x 40 cm
Price: $275.00 Rare
Full size not seen offered for sale. Similar works offered for US $10,000- $ 40,000 in auction.
"The design for the 'A trip to Chinatown' musical comedy, was an asymmetrically place silhouette, consisting of a combination of light and dark tones against a middle-toned orange. The use of scissors (in the printing) is more obvious in the outline of the chinaman figure than it is in the figure of Hamlet (see PL. 107)…The influence of Japanese prints on Pryde and Nicholson can be seen mainly in the pure, flat colours of the design. The rectangular panel in the upper right corner recalls similar panels in Japanese woodcuts…A chocolate-coloured border bearing the title of the musical comedy was added to the Beggarstaff design (the inner panel) by the printer after the design left the artists' studio" (Beggarstaff, p.38)
The Chinese style lettering, absolutely perfect for the title itself, gives the poster an enchanting whimsical tone, which contrasts extremely well with the brilliantly stylized 'chinaman' character. It has been written that the poster was left unsigned because Nicholson and Pryde disliked this lettering, which was added by the printer.