My grandfather said this picture was painted in the Scottish Highlands where a mist always covered a rock and spring. We've forgotten the name of this mystical place, but suspect folklore once told a richer tale. It is possible that the mist is the cloak of the ancient Manx wizard Manannan Mac-Lir, someplace on the Isle of Man. Maybe the idea of a Scottish magical mist just seemed nostalgic to someone who remembered the tales of Manannan's cloak.
Does anyone recognize this landscape?
A young shepherd walks a flock of Scottish blackface sheep down a heathered mountain path next to a gentle river which receives the the spring's waterfall.
The shepherd's loyal dog bounces by his ankle, eager for the next command.
Although not visible in these photos, the glass in this frame is hand poured. With the right light, you can see circular ripples. The painting is signed 'H.E. Sawyer 1917'. Under the signature someone has penciled in 'After [herding] or [shering]'. The pencil note is indecipherable. The sheep don't look recently sheared.
Heather,
ReplyDeleteNice work on the blog! We've wanted to reach out and learn more about these paintings and the artist for quite some time.
Just below the "H.E. Sawyer 1917" signature, it looks like there's some faint cursive script. Can you make out what it says? (Could the first word be "after"?)
- Andy Smith
Hi Andy,
ReplyDeleteWe used a flashlight and tried to bounce light off the graphite and looked at the painting with several eyes. We agree that it says, 'After', but can't read the second word. Perhaps it says, 'herding' or 'shering' or something like that, although we can't see the bottom loop on a "g" at the end. We're puzzled. Glad you like the blog!