Bookplate for Cicely Rose

Gleeson White

1891; signed GW

Pen and pencil on paper.

One of Gleeson White’s floral designs, this time for his daughter. Like all of his best designs, the composition is economical and highly focused, free of the complications he detected in the work of other bookplate artists. The open flowers, which look like wild or ‘dog roses’, suggest the recipient’s youthfulness and vitality: a lovely gift from a father to a child. This plate was printed.

Reproduced with permission of the Gleeson White family. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the Victorian Web, and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]