Loading Vraic St. Malo
Edmund Blampied (1886-1966), Loading Vraic St. Malo, drypoint, c. 1926, signed in pencil lower right margin and numbered 50/100 lower left. Reference: Appleby 122. In very good condition, with margins, on an ivory laid paper; 6 7/8 x 10, the sheet 10 x 15 1/2 inches, archival mounting.
A fine impression, with substantial burr from the drypoint work.
Provenance: Collection: Albert M. Bender; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; sold at Christie’s New York to benefit the SFMMA.
The medieval city of St. Malo is a ferry’s trip from Jersey, and we can see the walled city with the spire of the church in the finely detailed background in Blampied’s etching. Of course the featured activity is loading vraic, the Norman name used in the Channel Islands for the seaweed traditionally used as fertilizer.