Again an auction with a work attributed to Charles Ricketts is announced. A design drawing for a costume of Salome is lot 162 in the Fine Paintings and Frames sale at Parker Fine Arts Auction (Farnham, Surrey) on 6 February. It is a watercolour, 'signed with initials, and inscribed in pencil', 12.75" x 11.25" (32.4 x 28.6cm).
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| [Attributed to] Charles Ricketts, design for Salome (undated) |
Underneath the image, on the mount, is the attribution:DESIGN FOR SALOME BY
CHARLES RICKETTS R.A.
1866 - 1931
Personally, I can not see a signature, but the handwritten notes in the upper left hand corner could certainly be by Charles Ricketts.
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| [Attributed to] Charles Ricketts, design for Salome (undated) |
If this is indeed a sketch for Oscar Wilde's Salome, then probably one for the first performances in 1906 - the later drawings from 1919 show a considerably different style.
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| 'Scheme of colours' for [Attributed to] Charles Ricketts, design for Salome (undated) |
The 'Scheme of colours', written in the upper left hand corner, does not mention the name or function of the woman depicted. She does not look like Salomé, and because of the vessel in front of her, this may have been intended as a costume design for one of the female servants or enslaved people in the play.Incidentally, this watercolour contains a second portrait in the top right corner. There, the outline of a woman's head in profile is visible in blue.
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| [Attributed to] Charles Ricketts, design for Salome (undated) [detail] |