STRATTON, Helen.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Original artwork for The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen. A group of finished illustrations by the art nouveau illustrator Helen Stratton (fl. 1892-1925), prepared for publication in her most substantial work: a large illustrated selection of Andersen's tales published by George Newnes in 1899. Each of the six drawings foregrounds female figures. It includes the final image for "The Little Mermaid", showing her moment of return to the sea.This tale, together with "The Snow Queen", had already been illustrated in Stratton's earlier and much shorter Tales from Hans Andersen (1896), although all the present drawings are new designs made for the expanded 1899 edition. The two "Snow Queen" illustrations centre on the protagonist Gerda. In one she is shown surrounded by lilies, their curling forms echoed in her hair. The second depicts her escape from the old robber woman, assisted by the robber's daughter.Another drawing illustrates the opening of "The Marsh King's Daughter", showing the discovery of the infant Moses by the Pharaoh's daughter. In "The Girl Who Trod on a Loaf", a small vignette shows a child moved to pity for Inger. Finally, in "The Fellow Traveller", an old woman is healed by the travellers.

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