Dec 19, 2007 - Sale 2133

Sale 2133 - Lot 158

Unsold
Estimate: $ 4,000 - $ 6,000
EDWARD PENFIELD (1866-1925) THE LAST OF THE KNICKERBOCKERS. Circa 1901.
19 3/4x29 inches. Carqueville Litho Co., Chicago.
Condition B: minor losses along sharp vertical and horizontal folds and creases. Paper. Framed.
A rare and wonderful work by Penfield that is exceptional for both its size and its content. "Although Penfield continued at Harper's as Art Editor until 1901, his poster series stops in 1899." (Designed to Persuade p. 15). In all, he designed over 75 images advertising the periodical, each one small enough to hang in a store window. After his tenure with the magazine, Penfield went on to design advertisements for other publishers and manufacturers. "However, the scope of his career is not well-documented in this second phase, and the works of the first two decades of this century are more difficult to rediscover" (ibid p. 17). This unusually-sized promotion for a novel features many of the images that Penfield used in his Harper's posters, such as the horse-drawn sleigh and the dapper men and women. Horse drawn carriages and coaches appeared in many of his posters. "Studying coach design and history was a favorite hobby [of the artist], and he later became a collector of these vehicles, and wrote about them for Outting. The unfinished manuscript of a book on coaches survives among family papers." (ibid p. 13). Busy street scenes also figure prominently in his work, such as the crowds of passersby in People We Pass (circa 1896, see Swann Auction #2016, lot 84) and his poster for Adler Suits & Overcoats (see Swann auction #2099, lot 124) which presents a very similar scene.