(Dickens, Charles) — H.K. Brown ("Phiz") | Studies for "Dombey and Son"

(Dickens, Charles) — Habolt K. Brown ("Phiz")

A pair of original pencil and watercolor drawings, ca. 1848

Alice Brown seated with cityscape in background (292 x 254 mm), signed by the artist ("Phiz") at lower right. [With:] Alice Brown seated (292 x 254 mm), signed by the artist ("Phiz") lower left. Each matted, glazed, and framed; not examined out of frames.

A charming pair of works, likely studies for Dombey and Son: The Four Portraits of Edith, Florence, Alice and Little Paul (1848). The first image was reproduced in Edgar Browne's Phiz and Dickens (New York: Dodd Mead, 1914), with the plate facing page 274.

Hablot Knight Browne, now more commonly known by his pseudonym "Phiz," was a prolific English illustrator. Indeed, Browne illustrated the first editions of many of Charles Dickens's best-known works, and is regarded by some critics as the "man who made Dickens." His illustrations helped bring the author's many and varied characters to life, with Browne's technical mastery surpassing that of his rivals, including George Cruikshank and John Leech.

PROVENANCE

Freemans, 22 October 2015, lot 148