2010/113

Sheep Dipping,

Collecting 20th Century Rural Cultures, The Life of the Fields

Signed engraving; ‘Sheep Dipping’, by Stanley Anderson. Anderson lived in Towersey, Oxfordshire. Anderson studied at Royal College of Art & Goldsmiths College.
This is a signed, framed, engraving, one of an edition of forty prints, entitled ‘Sheep Dipping’, by Stanley Anderson (1884–1966). It is one of a series of precisely-observed rural studies produced over a twenty year period from 1933 when Anderson moved to the village of Towersey, Oxfordshire. It was originally framed with a copy of the Daily Telegraph for January 1934 for padding, and the remains of an old label for The Birmingham Exhibition 1936 and a price tag for £4 10s framed can be found on the back. Anderson studied at the Royal College of Art and Goldsmiths College, and became a Fellow of the Royal Academy.

1 engraving: paper

Collecting 20thc Rural Culture blog [Thursday, 1 July 2010] – 'Stanley Anderson line engraving, 1934 // We have taken the opportunity to add to our collection of engravings by Stanley Anderson (1884-1966). This one is entitled Sheep Dipping and is signed in pencil at the bottom. It had been framed with a pristine copy of the Daily Telegraph for January 1934 to provide padding and has the remains of a label on the back for The Birmingham Exhibition 1936 with a price tag of £4 10s (framed). // It is one in a series of precisely-observed rural studies that Anderson produced over a 20 year period from 1933 when he went to live in a cottage in the heart of the Oxfordshire countryside at Towersey (now home, incidentally, of the Towersey Village Festival which began in 1965 and is still going strong). // It would be difficult to think of any other twentieth century artist who managed to capture the ordinary business of farming in such clear and accurate detail, so attractively without tipping over into excessive sentimentality. This one, entitled Three Good Friends, shows a ploughman and his team taking a rest: // The Bristol-born Anderson was apprenticed to his father in heraldic engraving initially but subsequently studied at the Royal College of Art and Goldsmith's College, where in 1925 he was taken on as engraving instructor. He was a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy and became a Fellow in 1941. These engravings were produced in 40 print editions and sold through the Royal Academy and other exhibitions. This last example from our collection has the title Good Companions and shows an early morning farmyard scene as a horse is led from the stable ready to be harnessed to the Buckinghamshire type wagon in the background.', See article entitled 'Stanley Anderson' by R. J. E. Inglis in 'Tools & Trades: The 25th Anniversary Collection 1983-2008' (Extracts from the journals and newsletters of the Tools and Trades History Society (TATHS)) pp.101-114, originally published in 'Tools & Trades' Volume 6 in 1990. A copy of the article can be found in the accession file for 82/31.

1933 - 1936

Engraved, Printed