Artwork description:

‘A Tale of London’ etching & aquatint in an edition of 75, 300 x 300 mm.

‘A Tale of London’ is an etching and aquatint by Tim Southall and demonstrates the artist’s passion for history and narrative as he explores some key events of the High Middle Ages in London, both fact and fiction. The story begins with Dick Whittington and his cat, which has been aggrandised to a leopard reflecting both the legendary prowess of the cat and heraldic symbolism of the leopards of England. From here a number of vignettes take the viewer through a wooded landscape leading to the emerging city itself; a London dominated by The Tower.

Scenes and characters:

Dick Whittington and his cat in front of the Royal Oak in Richmond Park
A plague doctor and a number of rats representing the wave of plagues afflicting London
A medieval queen on horseback beside an Eleanor Cross
William the Conquer with knights on horseback.
King Harold enthroned
Bears, a fox and a stag roaming freely
A shepherd taking his flock to town
Woodland cottages
A wine merchant heads to the city
Gog and Magog, the traditional guardians of the city, dancing/fighting
King Cnut attempts to turn back the tide of the Thames
The burial of Edward the Confessor, Archbishop Stigand
An elephant given by Louis IX of France to Henry III
A number of ravens (from The Tower) are dotted throughout the scene
London with the Tower in the foreground
A number of sailing vessels on the Thames indicating London’s trading status

Materials used:

etching on copper plate printed on a heavy weight hand made paper

Tags: