Ex Libris Bookplate Designed by Rex Whistler for Kenneth Rae 1931
$250
4 1/4" x 3 1/4"
VG
The ex libris bookplate designed by Rex Whistler for Kenneth Rae. Rae was a friend of Whistler's and, according to Laurence Whistler, the bookplate was a gift in exchange for the loan of some ski equipment. The design features an irregular rococo cartouche surrounded by a simple selection of objects including a rose, spear, two books and a memento mori skull.
[Further reading: North Lee, Brian, 'The Bookplate Designs of Rex Whistler', 1973, p. 19-20, 31, plate 18; Whistler, Laurence & Ronald Fuller, 'The Work of Rex Whistler', 1960, no. 589]
Rex Whistler. Privately printed. 1931. Collotype book plate, with plate mark to margin, signed and dated in the plate 'Rex Whistler 1931'; paper size - 110 x 80 mm. English. 110 x 80mm. 0.1kg.
Rae was one of the directors at the Cobden-Sanderson publishing house
A collotype made in 1931 for Kenneth Rae as his bookplate. This is the most perfect example of Whistler’s whimsy: a combination of frivolity and mortality. Appropriately, the Rococo cartouche bearing the name of the book publisher supports a pile of books, but it’s accompanied by a skull and flowers