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Sir Maximus Mouse

by ALDRIDGE, Alan

$14,500 · Offered by Biblio

London: , 1973. The Cheese Tycoon At Home in the Cheddar Bank Original Art From "The Butterfly Ball" ALDRIDGE, Alan. Sir Maximus Mouse. Original Art, Plate No. 19 from The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast. [London], 1973. 25 x 19 1/4 inches (64 x 49 cm) matted and glassed in frame; oval image 18 x 12 1/2 inches (46 x 31.5 cm). An original airbrushed acrylic painting illustrating a character from artist Alan Aldridge's modern children's classic, The Butterfly Ball and The Grasshopper's Feast, with verses by William Plomer and nature notes by Richard Fitter, originally published in London by Jonathan Cape, 1973. It is one of twenty-eight illustrations created for the book. Accompanied by a first edition copy of the book. Aldridge’s fantastically detailed composition shows the dapper Sir Maximus Mouse - rose in buttonhole, pince-nez perched on his snout, and cigar alight - as he peruses The Financial Times in his plush City penthouse overlooking St. Paul’s Cathedral. The newspaper headlines read like satirical punchlines: “CHEESE PRICES CRASH" “Mouse Traps Up 30%” “British Mouse Assurance Scare” “Cat Takeover” A nod to both London’s financial anxieties and the anthropomorphic logic of Aldridge’s whimsical animal world, this image is one of the finest in the Butterfly Ball series - witty, visually layered, and resonant with socio-political undertones. The composition is filled with rich period detail: rococo furnishings, Chinese porcelain, pink lilies, a Victorian grand

  • Publisher: London: , 1973
  • Binding: unknown

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