Catalogue Seven – February 2010

Welcome to our seventh catalogue, issued in the days after Lammas.

There are some choice items here, not only from the hand of Spare, but also from two of our living artists: Barry William Hale and Orryelle Defenestrate-Bascule. Barry’s Beelzebub bottles are a potent addition to any ritual space or altar, while Orryelle’s drawings from Conjunctio need no introduction.

If you have any queries regarding the material offered in this list enquiries should be directed via our website form, clearly stating the item number in the subject field. For buyers living in London, items 1, 2 and 3 are available for viewing on request. Items 5 and 6 are currently in the United States. Items 9-13 are currently in Australia.

Items are sold on a first come, first served basis. Unless otherwise specified, postage and packing is a flat rate of £10 for European buyers of unframed items, but framed items will need us to calculate a tailored quotation. Items will be packed and dispatched by a secure method with basic insurance up to £250.00 Additional insurance cover is optional and should be requested. Buyers from outside Europe, and those succcessful in securing multiple items can request a tailored shipping quote.

STOP PRESS – NEW AOS ITEMS ADDED!!

AUSTIN OSMAN SPARE

ITEM 1

[Sabbatic Rite]
Pencil and watercolour on paper.
Signed with initials lower left ‘A.O.S.’ c.1934
h.168mm x w.417mm approx.

Provenance: Abbot & Holder, London, August 2001; William Argent Collection

NOTES: This description from the owner… “This is a particularly fine example of a gatherings of satyrs, which Spare sometimes depicted wearing masks. Note the masks around the standing stones; the one on the left has a tongue protruding, again a depiction not uncommon in Spare. Note too the splendidly-drawn figure to the right of the gathering; though wearing a horned mask, his legs are those of Baphomet, terminating in finely-drawn cloven hooves. The satyrs appear to be consigning a sacrifice to the flames.”

£2,500 SOLD

ITEM 2

[Three Men in a Cavern]
Pencil, watercolour and chalk on card.
Signed with initials lower left ‘A.O.S.’ c.1932
h.165mm x w.267mm

Provenence: Christies, London, April 1995.

NOTES: This description from the owner… “Depictions of the inside of caves are common in Spare, and have been taken to represent the unconscious. The rock formations are ambiguous, with faces and shapes emerging. This example has three very delicately drawn satyrs or holy men, who seem to be gazing around them at the walls of the cavern. Perhaps they are trying to read what looks like faint and obscured writing on the cavern walls.”

£2,000 SOLD

ITEM 3

Unseen Associate
Pencil, pastel and charcoal on board
Signed with initials ‘A.O.S.’ c.1947
h.530mm x w.400mm

Original frame and backboard. Artist’s label on backboard.

Exhibited: London, Archer Gallery, 1947, no. 143.
Provenance: Phillips, London, November 1999.

Notes: The portrait in the top left of this fine, brightly-coloured pastel appears to be Cary Grant and might be a reference to his film ‘The Bishop’s Wife’ in which he plays an angel come to earth to help a clergyman. The woman’s head appears to be a portrait of one of his co-stars, Rosalind Russell, perhaps.

£2,500 SOLD

ITEM 4

Sidereal Semblance, Donald Wolfit
Pencil and watercolour on board
Titled and signed and dated in pencil lower centreSidereal Semblance by Austin Osman Spare 1953, Donald Wolfit
h.360mm x w.290mm approx.

Original frame, artist’s label on backboard

Exhibited: London, White Bear Tavern, 1953 no.46

NOTES: Donald Wolfit was at the peak of his career in the early 1950s. Most famous for his roles in Shakespeare, he was best known as a versatile stage actor and would have been a very familiar face to the crowds drinking in South London in the post War years.

£2,500

ITEM 5

[Satyr]
Pencil on paper
Signed lower left ‘A.O.S.’ c.1916-20
h.515mm x w.355mm approx.

NOTES: The style and size of this fabulous piece suggests it dates from the period immediately surrounding WWI, placing it either in the years following The Book of Pleasure, or in those prior to The Focus of Life. Satyr nudes are not often seen from this period, and the work is larger than the majority of later examples. We have not yet seen another quite like it.

£1,800 SOLD

ITEM 6

[Experiment in Relativity]
Pencil and watercolour on paper
Signed in pencil, lower right ‘Austin Osman Spare 30′
h.305mm x w.235mm approx.

NOTES: Spare rekindled his love of women, and perhaps of life, with a stunning series of elongated portraits exhibited at the Godfrey Philips Galleries in 1930. Collectively titled ‘Experiments in Relativity’ these dazzling and colourful images marked a departure from the inward-looking and detailed pencil work of his 1927 and 1929 shows. The style was based on a form of anamorphic projection and a few years later, as a double pun, Spare was to label such drawings of stars ‘sidereal’ while making a side-swipe at the emerging Surrealist movement.

£3,500 SOLD

ITEM 7

[Sigillic formula for Kenneth Grant/Joyce Bernard]
Pencil on paper
c.1953
h.300mm x w.205mm approx.

This page from one of Spare’s late sketchbooks details the construction of sigils pertaining to Joyce Bernard and Kenneth Grant. Bernard was a friend of the Kenneth and Steffi Grant in the early 50s and was possibly involved in magical workings. She is mentioned in Zos Speaks! by both AOS and KG. She was famously the subject for one of Spare’s most magical later pastels: ‘Isis Smiles’ (opposite, now in the collection of Jimmy Page).

This rare sketchbook page shows the construction of sigils drawn from her name, and also that of Kenneth Grant, with a barely legible palimpsest in Spare’s hand. The elephant was a recurrent motif in Spare work, appearing in outline in The Book of Pleasure, and symbolised sexual strength. The nude studies here are quite likely Bernard, posing for Spare in preparation for ‘Isis Smiles.’

£900.00 RESERVED

ITEM7A

[Untitled]
Coloured pencil and pen on paper
Signed in pencil lower left ‘A.O.S. 24′
h.275mm x w.185mm

£900.00

ITEM 7B

[Untitled]
Coloured pencil and pen on paper
Signed in pencil lower right ‘A.O.S. 24′
h.275mm x w.185mm

£1100.00

These two drawings from the mid 1920s echo of the lonely and dark period seen in Spare’s Valley of Fear. A magical catharsis of sorts, these drawings stem from an important nexus between the lingering vestige of the pre WWI artist, and his Walworth renaissance in the 1930s. We don’t see material from this period often, especially using inks, so these two are particularly rare.

BARRY WILLIAM HALE

We are very pleased to offer these unique and powerful hand-decorated diabolical objects from the artist behind Legion 49. In his own words…

The Sigillick Conjuration of Beelzebub is incorporated into the walls of these Seven unique Talismanic Bottles sporting a variegated panapoly of magical signs and symbols sacred to the Lord of the Flies.

They may be used exclusively for diabolic libations unto the Lord of Calamity in Exorcistic Ecstasis, Rites and Rituals, at Crossroads and Conjurations, or as an apparatus of Capture to call, coerce and constrain demons of legion under the dominion of the Prince of Pride ‘for the Lord goeth where his image is.’ With appropriate sacraments and signa magica the Servitors drawn from Legion 49, or the spirits of VERUM for example, are deposited into the vessel, sealed and bound, to become a phantastic formidable fetish for diverse purposes and Pacts…

LIMITED EDITION, each with certificate of authenticity signed by the artist.

ITEM 8A

Jack Daniels, 27cm high approx.
Glass, inks and lacquer varnish
£121.00 SOLD

ITEM 8B

Jack Daniels, 27cm high approx.
Glass, inks and lacquer varnish
£121.00 SOLD

ITEM 8C

Jack Daniels, 27cm high approx.
Glass, inks and lacquer varnish
£121.00 SOLD

ITEM 8D

Bundaberg Rum, 30cm high approx.
Glass, inks and lacquer varnish
£141.00 SOLD

ITEM 8E

Johnnie Walker, 30cm high approx.
Glass, inks and lacquer varnish
£141.00 SOLD

ITEM 8F

Slate Bourbon, 33cm high
Glass, inks and lacquer varnish
£141.00 SOLD

ITEM 8G

Bundaberg Rum, 30cm high approx.
Glass, inks and lacquer varnish
£141.00 SOLD

ORRYELLE DEFENESTRATE-BASCULE

We are very pleased to offer a handful of original drawings from Orryelle’s acclaimed book Conjunctio. These are currently in Australia and will be shipped to the purchaser direct from the artist.

ITEM 9

Khnum Amoun
Pencil on cartridge paper
h.352mm x w.275mm (twice the printed size in Conjunctio)

£418 (includes secure delivery)

ITEM 10

Isis (in the form of a kite)
Pencil on cartridge paper
(note: there are some pencil smudges in the background of the original unlike in this scan which was prepared for publication)
h.352mm x w.275mm (twice the printed size in Conjunctio)

£380 (includes secure delivery)

ITEM 11

Allone
Pen and pencil on cartridge paper
h.352mm x w.275mm (twice the printed size in Conjunctio)

£400 SOLD (includes secure delivery)

Note: There is a subtle join between this picture and ‘Sabbat Dance’ (item xx). The price of the two together is £900.

ITEM 12

Sabbat Dance
Pen, pencil and coffee on cartridge paper
h.352mm x w.275mm (twice the printed size in Conjunctio)

£600 SOLD (includes secure delivery)

Note: There is a subtle join between this picture and ‘Allone’ (item 11). The price of the two together is £900.

ITEM 13

Thoth
Pen on cartridge paper
(Note: there are some slight pencil smudges in the background of the original unlike in this scan which was prepared for publication)
h.352mm x w.275mm (twice the printed size in Conjunctio)

£250 (includes secure delivery)

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