Beschreibung:

Description: Mervyn Peake (English, 1911-1968). Boy on a Horse, signed twice l.r., dated 1936, pen & ink illustration, the paper folded to form a Christmas card bearing an autograph inscription by Peake, 'We all send good wishes to Jean, Hoping she will have a Happy Xmas and New Year 1937', mounted above an invitation to a private viewing of an Exhibition of Line Drawings and Paintings by Mervyn Peake at the Calmann Gallery, 4 March 1938, held within a "Scraps" album including a mounted quarto title page of Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor and several newspaper clippings relating to Peake, the remainder of the scrapbook comprising mostly royalty & celebrity news clippings Provenance: The vendor's late mother, Jean Tunnard née Cope, worked as a maid for Dr. and Mrs. Peake from the age of 16 until the outbreak of war in 1939. The vendor discovered a draft letter composed by her mother to Sebastian Peake [Mervyn's son], which was never posted but is now included in this lot. In the 2pp. letter, Jean describes her memories of Mervyn, 'I went to work for your grandparents at Woodcote House, Woodcote Rd, Wallington, Surrey. This is where I met your father, Mervyn. When your grandfather retired he had a bungalow built in Sussex - Reed Thatch, Wepham, Burpham. I moved with them. With a lot of rubble that was left your father and I built a little island which over a cup of cocoa we named it Little Sark, as you may have known he used to love to go there...Your dad took me to London to see The Insect Play.' The vendor has also included a scanned copy of Jean's Anti-Gas Training certificate, which records her address as Reed Thatch