Engravings posthumously printed from the original plates in a limited edition of 15 sets.
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Provenance: The Artist's Estate
A Chine appliqué (also called a chine collé) print is created by making an impression onto a thin sheet of China paper (in the case of the Gill prints a hand coloured Japanese Kozo paper) which is then backed by a strong, thicker sheet (here a 300g German paper Hahnemühle).
Procreant Hymn by E Powys Mathers was originally published by The Golden Cockerel Press in 1926 with five copper engravings 'God Sending' (P359), 'Earth Waiting' (P360),' Earth Inviting' P(361), 'Dalliance' (P362) and 'Earth Receiving' (P363) in an edition of 175. In addition 25 copies were provided with an extra suite of 4 alternative designs of a more erotic nature entitled 'God Sending' (P364), 'Earth Inviting' (P365), 'Earth Wrestling' (P366) and 'Earth Receiving' (P367).
In addition to the impressions printed for the edition Gill issued a signed and numbered edition of 15 impressions of the ordinary engravings (P359 - P363) and 25 of the alternative designs (P365 - P367). Douglas Cleverdon used 'Earth Waiting' (P360) as one of the plates in The Engravings of Eric Gill published in 1929 in an edition of 490.
Eric Gill subsequently made an additional engraving Yahoo (P411) on the reverse of Earth Inviting (P360) which was not editioned and only a few impressions are known. Martyn Grimmer has now made the first edition of this engraving in an edition of 50 impressions.
Exhibited: Sanctuary, Artist-Gardeners, 1919-39, Garden Museum, London, 25th February – 5 April, 2020
Literature: Christopher Woodward, Sanctuary: Artist-Gardeners, 1919–1939, published by Liss Llewellyn, 2020
