Margot Hamilton Hill.
England. [c.1967.] Ink drawing to ivory paper, with cut-out of the man’s hand and complete woman pasted down, occasional white corrections, label with page and date indication applied to top left corner; pasted to light brown board, with loose dark brown mount and backing sheet. Drawing size - 535 x 420mm; board size - 585 x 472mm; mount size - 635 x 505mm. English. 535 x 420mm. 1kg. . Very good; a few light marks to surface of drawing, occasional pencil marks to show working design; remains of tape to verso of mount and board.
Margot Hamilton Hill (later Daniels) was an illustrator, theatre designer, and lecturer on the history of fashion and theatre design. The present ink drawing is a working illustration for the book The Evolution of Fashion. Pattern and Cut from 1066 to 1930, co-written by Hill and Peter A. Bucknell and published by Batsford in 1967. Hill provided 56 full-page drawings for the book, each one depicting accurate trends in male and female historical dress against an appropriate period backdrop. This drawing is reproduced in a reduced-scale on page 63 of the book, titled '1550 Edward VI'. It illustrates a man with jerkin, upper and nether hosen, and hat, the woman with embroidered gown, chemise and 'partlet'. The couple are placed in front of a large fireplace and panelling. Hill's working methods can be clearly seen in the artwork; her figures have been cut out and placed onto a new sheet with the background, and white paint has been used for corrections. All 56 drawings, including this work, were exhibited at a selling exhibition at the Grosvenor Gallery, London in November 1967.
