Title: The Swineherd
Medium: Ink, graphite, watercolour gouache and glazes with bodycolour highlights on paper
Signed: lower right: HARRY CLARKE
Credit Line: Heritage Gift, Lochlann and Brenda Quinn, 2008
Object Number: NGI.2008.89.7
DescriptionA Prince disguises himself as a swineherd to woo an arrogant Princess who spurns his simple gifts of a rose and a nightingale. Rejecting these real gifts with disdain, the Princess prefers to pay with kisses for artificial toys that he creates. The Emperor, disgusted that his daughter would stoop so low as to kiss a swineherd in return for playthings, casts her out. The Prince, revealing his true identity, scorns the Princess for her shallowness, and states that she has received her just reward. Clarke depicts the Prince elegantly attired in his royal raiment, complete with bright green tights.
ProvenanceA.& M. Shands, USA, by 1994; The Fine Art Society, London; Heritage Gift, Lochlann and Brenda Quinn, 2008
Exhibition HistoryHarry Clarke: Ten Original Illustrations for Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales, The Fine Art Society, London, 2008
Inscriptionon verso (in ink): The Swineherd/ On the Spot where the Princes father was buried grew a rose bush ... and besides this the Prince had a nightingale.
on verso (in graphite): 38