S.T. Gill – The Chair and The Vice

Contents

In this article ...

• The Chair and The Vice : A Puzzle
• References
• Appendix: Signatures
• List of Works

The Chair and The Vice : A Puzzle

The Chair and The Vice are a pair of satirical prints showing a meeting chairman and his vice-chairman. Food and carafes of wine are involved. The "vice" looks the worse for wear.

The prints represent a puzzle.

Appleyard listed these companion prints as the last items in his South Australian catalogue (p.103) – dated 1852 based on Gill's signature. Appleyard noted the absence of a publication line and the prints could have been published in either South Australia or Victoria. That's unique as Gill's lithographs in both those colonies carried publication lines.

I find no reference in newspapers to the publication of these as Gill lithographs.

In fact these are images were published much earlier, in England in 1841. They in turn are after original paintings by "Alfred Crowquill". In 2010 the British Museum acquired 1841 prints of The Chair and The Vice (links below). It's now clear Gill's works were simply copies of the Crowquill images. This source for Gill was identified in the catalogue entries for the Dixson Library, State Library of New South Wales (links below).

The copies in Australian collections reward close inspection. I've noted four copies of The Chair and two of The Vice. Unexpectedly, the signatures are all slightly different across the copies. (See Appendix below.) I conclude they've been signed by hand and not on the lithograph stone.

So we have lithographs not signed on the stone, with no identified publisher, and individually signed after printing. There is no reason to doubt the signatures are by Gill. Being so signed, it's pretty safe to conclude he was the lithograph artist. That he did not sign the stone, may possibly be explained by his respect for the fact that they were not his drawings.

In the absence of publication lines and notices of publication, the possibility arises that Gill's prints were never published. Could they have been for anonymous sale as Crowquill satirical prints?

Another rationale emerges. There seem to be two types of print: one with two stones, and another a monochrome print. Could these have been Gill experimenting with two stones? And in 1852?

The mystery remains.

I exclude the pair from the Gill catalogue because they are just close copies of 1841 prints, even down to the letterpress inscriptions. But I do include them in indexes of works.

Works

To see these works, with accompanying notes, just scroll down or jump to the List of Works.

References

Appleyard

Appendix: Signatures

Included here are temporary links to SLNSW old catalogue.

• The Chair
  • SLNSW DL Pe 26 old catalogue – two colour lithograph signed "S.T.G. / 52" at about 30 degrees with the curly G tail extending back fully under the T.
  • SLNSW DL Pe 27 old catalogue – two colour lithograph signed "S.T.G. / 52." at about 45 degrees with the squared off G tail extending back under the preceeding dot; dot after 52.
  • SLNSW PX*D 384 f.10 old catalogue old catalogue, jump to display – monochrome print signed "S.T.G." at about 40 degrees with the curly G tail extending to the preceeding dot.
  • NGA 2005.690 NGA catalogue – monochrome print signed "S.T.G. / 52" at about 40 degrees with the curly G tail extending back to the T and down.
• The Vice
  • SLNSW-DL DL Pe 28 old catalogue – signed "S.T.G. / 52." at about 40 degrees with the flat G tail extending back to the T; dot after 52. The last digit also has the appearance of a 1 or a 3. SLNSW-M catalogue suggests 1852 or 1853.
  • AGSA 796HP52 – not online, there may be a "52" date in Appleyard's illustration.