Maxfield Parrish Collection at Spirit of the Ages

Maxfield Parrish Collection

Throughout the page that follows, we have presented a selection of more than 100 antique and vintage plates from

Maxfield Parrish.

These images are drawn from his contributions to titles including: Italian Villas and their Gardens (1903); Poems of

Childhood (1904); The Arabian Nights (1909); A Wonder Book and Tanglewood Tales (1910); The Golden Treasury

of Songs and Lyrics (1911); and The Knave of Hearts (1925). In addition, we show examples of his work published in

a variety of magazines, including Scribner's Magazine, Century Magazine and The Illustrated London News.

We have developed a range of Giftware that includes images reproduced from the 1st Edition plates in our collection

to ensure the most accurate form, line and colour possible. We have utilised a high definition capture and reproduction

technique for the images - in contrast to the low definition representation necessary for this website. The illustrations

are available as cards, infants' clothing, T-shirts and unmatted, matted or framed prints (8x6", 10x8", 12x10", 15x10" and

30 x 20" images sizes). Pricing starts at US$4 for single Gift Cards (US$18 for select packs of 6) and 10 x 8" prints

(double-matted and framed) begin at US$60. Further details on those reproduction images are available at the Giftware

section of this site.

Should you wish to discuss an order, please contact us at ThePeople@SpiritoftheAges.com referencing your request

with the Stock Code of the plate, or plates in question and a brief description (and rest assured, we do accept payment

through PayPal or Direct Bank Deposit).

In the meantime, enjoy browsing our selection of genuine vintage and antique plates.

The Artwork of Maxfield Parrish

Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966) was among the leading artists associated with what is known as the Golden Age of

Illustration and contributed significantly to shaping the future of American visual arts throughout his more than

50 year career.

Parrish's work is characterised by an attention to detail, composition and texture - whether in his monotone work

or in his more recognisable, luminous colour illustrations. Those titles including illustrated by Parrish exclusively in

colour include Poems of Childhood, The Arabian Nights, A Wonder Book and Tanglewood Tales, The Golden

Treasury of Songs and Lyrics and The Knave of Hearts. Other wonderful Parrish illustrations are also shown, including

those for Italian Villas and their Gardens, some of the colour images prepared for Dream Days, a suite prepared

to illustrate Wagner's Nieblung and a variety of his other illustrations.

We are also pleased to be able to present wonderful colour images from illustrations prepared for Dream Days.

Dream Days

The contributions prepared by Maxfield Parrish for Kenneth Grahame's Dream Days were produced in photogravure

only for the bound editions of that title. Rare vintage colour reproductions of a selection of those illustrations were,

however, produced in an unusually large format through a number of Christmas editions of The London Illustrated News.

3 colour images

Everyboy interviews the benign Dragon that fought St George

The hours of childhood make up the Days of the Great Adventure. In that brief, happy space, Everyboy, fellow of those who "thought there was no more behind, but such a day to-morrow as to-day, and to be boy eternal," is content to believe that he will never grow up to be Everyman, to dwell in the Brave Country of Fine Dreams. He is the master-hero of the world. Fear is not known to him; power is his, and glory. Fair captives call to him for rescue; beauteous beggar-maids become bewitched princesses under his proud glance; giants and goblins fall before him; dragons blench under his eye, become benign, cease to rap and to breathe fire; witches set broomsticks in corner and black cat on hearth, and sit sullenly indoors when he is abroad

Provenance: An English Collector

Image Size: 21.5 x 32cm

Vintage Image Price: US$4000

Code: MP DD 1

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Detail of image

The Master-Hero returns in Triumph: The Princess

rescued, his country saved

The men of the earthy, the beasts of the fields, the birds of the air, the monsters of the sea obey his will, knowing his might. Kings bid him sit upon their right hand and call him cousin; Queens kiss his hand; Princes call him greater than they; Princesses give him love. Fairies are in his service; gnomes are his henchmen. In his armoury are swords that none can withstand, blades strangely named of steel that will cut steel. His are the Flying Carpet, the Cap that Renders its Wearer Invisible, the Seven-league Boots, the Key that Unlocks all Doors, the Stone that makes Base Metals Gold, the Purse that is Never Empty. He is invincible - the Conqueror

Provenance: An American Collector

Image Size: 21.3 x 30.2cm

Vintage Image Price: US$2000

Code: MP DD 2

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Detail of image

Every plunge of our bows brought

us nearer to the happy island

I turned the page ... There was the harbour all thick with curly ships ... a few minutes more and we should all be aboard ... From the deck I should see the little walled town recede and sink and grow dim, while every plunge of our bows brought us nearer the happy island ... And then - Ow! Ow! Ow! Bitter it is to stumble out of an opalescent dream into the cold daylight; cruel to lose in a second a sea-voyage, an island, and a castle that was to be practically your own; but cruellest and bitterest of all to know, in addition to your loss, that the fingers of an angry aunt have you tight by the scruff of your neck."

Provenance: An English Collector

Image Size: 21.2 x 29.3cm

Vintage Image Price: US$2000

Code: MP DD 3

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Detail of image

Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung (Part 1 - The Rape of the Rhine-Gold) (Scribner's Magazine, 1898)

Wagner's Ring of Nibelung is shortened and translated by F J Stimson for the Christmas 1898 edition of

Scribner's Magazine. Part 1 - as provided by Stimson - relates the theft of the Rhine-Gold by the mythical dwarf of

the Nibelung, Albrech, and the Gods' response involving characters including: Wotan; Fricka; Freia; Fasolt; Donner;

Fafner; and Loki.

Parrish's images for this translation of Ring of the Nibelung are presented with subtle colouring in black, yellow and

aqua tones.

Many colour images

Title Illustration

Provenance: An American Collector

Image Size: 12 x 9.5cm

Vintage Image Price: US$100

Code: MP RN 1

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Alberich - dwarf of the Nibelungs

Provenance: An American Collector

Image Size: 12.4 x 13.6cm

Vintage Image Price: US$300

Code: MP RN 2

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

The depths of the Rhine; green twilight, dark below, brighter above.

The gulf is filled with waving waters, restless, streaming from right to

left; toward the bottom they lose themselves in mist; everywhere steep

crags rise from the deeps, giving no foothold, while on every side the

rifts of darkness indicate yet deeper gulfs.

Provenance: An American Collector

Image Size: 12.4 x 13.6cm

Vintage Image Price: US300

Code: MP RN 3

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Colour Illustration

Provenance: An American Collector

Image Size: 12 x 5cm

Vintage Image Price: US$100

Code: MP RN 4

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Colour Illustration

(I)

Provenance: An American Collector

Image Size: 12 x 5cm

Vintage Image Price: US$100

Code: MP RN 5

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Deep in the darkness falls the flood,

Falls the flow of the waving waters

Billowy black, and the three Rhine-daughters

Sink in the gulf of the Rhine below,

And worlds of waters fail and fall -

Light is lost in the purple pall,

Gone the Rhine-gold's gleam and glow.

Wakes the woe of the wan world's will,

Laughs the Nibelung far and shrill -

He who the light of love renouncing

Wins the will of the world his own,

Works of the red Rhine-gold his ring!

(I)

Provenance: An American Collector

Image Size: 12.4 x 14.5cm

Vintage Image Price: US$300

Code: MP RN 6

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Deep in the darkness falls the flood,

Falls the flow of the waving waters

Billowy black, and the three Rhine-daughters

Sink in the gulf of the Rhine below,

And worlds of waters fail and fall -

Light is lost in the purple pall,

Gone the Rhine-gold's gleam and glow.

Wakes the woe of the wan world's will,

Laughs the Nibelung far and shrill -

He who the light of love renouncing

Wins the will of the world his own,

Works of the red Rhine-gold his ring!

(II)

Provenance: An American Collector

Image Size: 12.4 x 14.5cm

Vintage Image Price: US$300

Code: MP RN 7

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

The castle of Walhall, bright marble in the

rising sun, flushed with dawn; far behind

is the valley, full of mists where the

Rhine-stream lay

(I)

Provenance: An American Collector

Image Size: 12 x 20cm

Vintage Image Price: US$300

Code: MP RN 8

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

The castle of Walhall, bright marble in the

rising sun, flushed with dawn; far behind

is the valley, full of mists where the

Rhine-stream lay

(II)

Provenance: An American Collector

Image Size: 12 x 20cm

Vintage Image Price: US$300

Code: MP RN 9

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Colour Illustration

Provenance: An American Collector

Image Size: 12.5 x 2.5cm

Vintage Image Price: US$100

Code: MP RN 10

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Colour Illustration

Provenance: An American Collector

Image Size: 12.5 x 2.5cm

Vintage Image Price: US$100

Code: MP RN 11

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Colour Illustration

Provenance: An American Collector

Image Size: 14 x 21.5cm

Vintage Image Price: US$300

Code: MP RN 12

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Colour Illustration

Provenance: An American Collector

Image Size: 14 x 21.5cm

Vintage Image Price: US$300

Code: MP RN 13

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Colour Illustration

Provenance: An American Collector

Image Size: 15 x 8.5cm

Vintage Image Price: US$150

Code: MP RN 14

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Colour Illustration

Provenance: An American Collector

Image Size: 15 x 8.5cm

Vintage Image Price: US$150

Code: MP RN 15

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Colour Illustration

Provenance: An American Collector

Image Size: 5 x 20cm

Vintage Image Price: US$150

Code: MP RN 16

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Colour Illustration

Provenance: An American Collector

Image Size: 5 x 20cm

Vintage Image Price: US$150

Code: MP RN 17

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Quiller-Couch's Phœbus on Halzaphron (Scribner's Magazine, 1901)

Phœbus on Halzaphron is a tale by Arthur Quiller-Couch that retells the tale of a fantasy post-Roman Kingdom in Cornwall,

Lyonnesse. It is introduced with an account of the serendipitous discovery of Roman archeological remains following a

landslip on the cliffs of Halzaphron - a location facing Mount's Bay in Cornwall.

Maxfield Parrish's illustrations to accompany Phœbus on Halzaphron by Arthur Quiller-Couch are magnificent. A particular

highlight of the images is the applied Gold used to accent the illustrations.

8 colour and 2 monotone images

Monotone Illustration

Provenance: An American Collector

Image Size: 12 x 5cm

Vintage Image Price: US$50

Code: MP PH 1

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

The rolling downs were not, but in their place a bright light

Provenance: An American Collector

Image Size: 12 x 8cm

Vintage Image Price: US$150

Code: MP PH 2

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

And their King ... watched ... their dark

sails moving out against the sunset

Provenance: An American Collector

Image Size: 6 x 9.2cm

Vintage Image Price: US$150

Code: MP PH 3

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

Through the night she calls to men,

luring them down to their death

Provenance: An American Collector

Image Size: 12 x 19cm

Vintage Image Price: US$400

Code: MP PH 4

10 x 8" Reproduction: US$25

One black noon in November a company of men crossed the sands

at low-water and demanded speak with the King

(I)

Provenance: An American Collector

Image Size: 12 x 8.9cm

Vintage Image Price: US$150

Code: MP PH 5