Studio RT Ltd

Description

We are pleased to offer this lovely Handcarved Mirror, which is one of a small collection of works by the artist Alfred Hawkins Palmer. In the collection, were three Mirrors, of which this is one. It is profusely carved with flowers, fruit, and leaves, and incorporates into the decoration, the motifs of palm leaf and cockleshell, with which the artist often used to sign his paintings. Because of the pattern, the mirror has been designed to hang landscape.

(Palmers were pilgrims who had been on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and wore cockleshells on their hats as they were a symbol of St. James, whose shrine in Spain was one most visited by pilgrims, and carried a staff adorned with palm boughs to commemorate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem.)


Alfred Hawkins Palmer 1905-1984, was born in Sutton, Surrey. There is little information available about his early life, due to the census records after 1911 being unavailable to the public, but in the 1939 Register, he was still living with his parents and sister at 9 Cumnor Road, Sutton and was listed as an artist. We can find no record of him being in the forces during WWII, but cannot verify this. We do know that his address later became Pond Cottage, Bells Road, Belchamp Walter Nr. Sudbury, Essex CO10 7AS. A tiny village very close to the Suffolk border and where he was buried in the cemetery of the Anglican church of St. Mary the Virgin after his death in 1984 at the age of 79..

He specialised in oil paintings of flowers and landscapes, although we also found an early watercolour in this collection. He was also a very accomplished wood carver, of which this mirror is an example. We know, from a label on the back of one of the old frames that he had obviously re-used, that he exhibited at the Chelsea Art Society, when they were holding their exhibitions at the Chenil Galleries. We normally quote auction results, but the Alfred Palmers are so mixed up, that the only way that you could see examples of Alfred Hawkins Palmer's work is to look at all the Alfred Palmer works, ignoring the dates as the auction houses often say 1911-1985, but this is incorrect, and look at the flower paintings done in meticulous details and landscapes of cottage scenes in Suffolk. There are several artists with this name, one of whom is South African.

The mirror will be supplied wired and ready to hang.

Plate size: 14 1/4" x 10 7/8" - 36.2cm x 27.65cm

Frame size: 20 1/2" x 17 1/4" - 52cm x 43.8cm

Materials: Walnut & glass

Condition: Both the mirror plate and frame are in excellent condition. (Please note that we have covered the mirror plate in order to obtain good photographs of the frame)