The Magazine of Art of April 1892 used a headpiece drawn by Charles Ricketts for an (unrelated) article on 'Painter-Etching'. The drawing symbolises one of the four seasons, 'Summer'.
Charles Ricketts, 'Summer' (1892) |
A reclining nymph is surrounded by four putti, a peacock, lilies, waterlilies, and a butterfly, around a pond. The title is drawn in a cartouche in the upper left hand corner.
This was a genre of decorative drawing that earned Ricketts some money. He also got more journalistic assignments, which were perhaps less to his taste.
The very same month he published a completely different drawing in Black & White: 'The Coal Famine – Poor Children Gleaning Coal on the Banks of the Thames at Limehouse'.
Charles Ricketts, 'The Coal Famine' (1892) |
The first drawing was based on fantasy, the second was probably drawn from a photograph.