After his death, Christie's auctioned a four-fold screen. It is listed in Catalogue of Drawings and Paintings comprising […] Paintings by C.H. Shannon, R.A. Esq. Sold by Order of the Executors […]. London, Sotheby & Co., 29 March 1939, p. 18, no. 114, and described as 'A four-fold screen depicting various harvesting scenes by C.H. Shannon, R.A. each panel 70in. by 36in.' It was sold for £3 15s to Francis Howard.
Perhaps this was the 'decorative panel' called 'Autumn' that Shannon had exhibited in 1923 at the Royal Academy, see Exhibition of Decorative Art. Winter Exhibition Forty-Eighth Year. London, William Clowes and Sons, Printers to the Royal Academy [1923], p. [1], no. 2.
In most cases, there are no images of such decorative works.
The British Museum holds a working drawing for a design that may have been intended as a tapestry, a folding screen, a tiled tableau, or some other type of decoration. It has no title.
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| Charles Shannon, Figures decorating an interior [Location: British Museum, London: 1962,0809.32] Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license [© With permission of the executors of the Charles Ricketts estate, Leonie Sturge-Moore and Charmain O'Neil] |
The drawing on paper (see the description on the British Museum website) is a brush drawing in grey ink, and graphite, squared for transfer, 34 x 43.2 cm. It is inscribed 'Shannon', and: 'Study for a Decoration'. Numbers have been written on the left-hand side.
It is an interior scene, in which ten characters engage in different activities. On the left side are tall windows, and a figure standing on a ladder arranging the curtains, aided by another on the floor.
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| Charles Shannon, Figures decorating an interior (detail) [Location: British Museum, London: 1962,0809.32] Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license [© With permission of the executors of the Charles Ricketts estate, Leonie Sturge-Moore and Charmain O'Neil] |
To their right, on the floor in the foreground sits a figure, apparently lifting a rug to some extent, perhaps to straighten it.
In the corner by the window is a cabinet on legs. Paintings hang from left to right on the back wall.
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| Charles Shannon, Figures decorating an interior (detail) [Location: British Museum, London: 1962,0809.32] Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license [© With permission of the executors of the Charles Ricketts estate, Leonie Sturge-Moore and Charmain O'Neil] |
In the left-hand corner, a figure supports another, standing on a ladder, hand held to the top edge of a painting, presumably to hang it straight.
Next to them is a figure with a broom, while in front of this person another worker kneels on the ground, apparently with a dustpan and brush.
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| Charles Shannon, Figures decorating an interior (detail) [Location: British Museum, London: 1962,0809.32] Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license [© With permission of the executors of the Charles Ricketts estate, Leonie Sturge-Moore and Charmain O'Neil] |
On the right, a person is holding a painting in front of a seated figure, while in the middle behind them another figure is holding a painting diagonally. In front of the seated figure appears to be a table (perhaps the person sits in a wheelchair?).
The scene seems to be this: a room is transformed into a temporary exhibition space, or a personal gallery of paintings. The patron is then the seated figure.
