VINTAGE FRAMED COLOUR ART PRINT TITLED “THE FIRST FLOWER SERVICE” AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING BY Margaret Winifred Tarrant, ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED BRITISH ILLUSTRATORS OF THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY. TARRANT IS PARTICULARLY RENOWNED FOR HER ROMANTISED DEPICTIONS OF CHILDREN, FAIRY SUBJECTS AND RELIGIOUS SCENES, WITH HER WORK WIDELY COLLECTED AND PUBLISHED DURING THE INTERWAR PERIOD, INCLUDING EDITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MEDICI SOCIETY.

THE SCENE DEPICTS THE VIRGIN MARY (MADONNA) WITH THE INFANT JESUS (CHRIST CHILD), SURROUNDED BY CHILDREN OFFERING FLOWERS, A CLASSIC CHRISTIAN AND DEVOTIONAL SUBJECT. THE COMPOSITION COMBINES TRADITIONAL RELIGIOUS ICONOGRAPHY WITH TARRANT’S DISTINCTIVE SOFT, ROMANTIC STYLE, MAKING IT APPEALING BOTH AS RELIGIOUS WALL ART AND AS VINTAGE NURSERY DECOR.

THIS PRINT IS CONSIDERED TO DATE TO THE LATE 1930S. HISTORICAL RECORDS CONFIRM THAT MARGARET TARRANT TRAVELLED TO PALESTINE IN 1936, A JOURNEY WHICH MARKED A SIGNIFICANT TURNING POINT IN HER RELIGIOUS WORK. FOLLOWING THIS VISIT, HER ART INCREASINGLY FEATURED MIDDLE EASTERN STYLE CLOTHING AND BIBLICALLY INSPIRED LANDSCAPES, AS CLEARLY SEEN IN THIS COMPOSITION. EARLIER RELIGIOUS WORKS BY TARRANT WERE GENERALLY MORE ENGLISH AND PASTORAL IN CHARACTER.

PUBLICATION HISTORY FURTHER SUPPORTS A PRE-WAR DATE. “THE FIRST FLOWER SERVICE” WAS ISSUED AS BOTH  A POPULAR POSTCARD AND A LARGER FORMAT DECORATIVE PRINT DURING THE LATE 1930S, WITH ANTIQUE BOOK AND PRINT DEALER RECORDS CONSISTENTLY LISTING FRAMED EXAMPLES AS 1930S PRODUCTIONS. THE DISRUPTION OF COLOUR PRINTING AND MATERIAL SHORTAGES DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR MAKE A LATER FIRST ISSUE UNLIKELY.

THE REVERSE LABEL CONFIRMS THAT THIS IS A PERIOD LITHOGRAPHIC COLOUR PRINT AFTER THE ORIGINAL WATERCOLOUR AND NOT AN ORIGINAL PAINTING. CLOSE INSPECTION OF THE PRINT SURFACE SHOWS A PERIOD COLOUR LITHOGRAPHIC DOT STRUCTURE AND UNCOATED WOVE PAPER CONSISTENT WITH INTERWAR (1930S) PRINTING METHODS, CONFIRMING THIS AS AN ORIGINAL PRE-WAR ISSUE AND NOT A MODERN REPRODUCTION.

THE PRINT IS PRESENTED IN ITS ORIGINAL INTERWAR GOLD FINISH WOODEN FRAME WITH BEADED INNER SLIP AND GLASS. THIS STYLE OF FRAME IS TYPICAL OF THE INTERWAR PERIOD (1918–1939) AND BECAME INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TO PRODUCE DURING THE 1940S DUE TO WARTIME MATERIAL RATIONING. THE FRAME SHOWS MINOR AGE-RELATED WEAR AND SMALL MARKS TO THE GILDING, WITH THE ORIGINAL BACKING PAPER PRESENT BUT TORN IN PLACES. THE PRINT ITSELF APPEARS WELL PRESERVED AND HAS BEEN PROTECTED BY THE ORIGINAL GLAZING.

A HIGHLY DECORATIVE AND COLLECTABLE EXAMPLE OF LATE INTERWAR BRITISH ILLUSTRATION, IDEAL FOR COLLECTORS OF MARGARET TARRANT, CHRISTIAN AND RELIGIOUS ART, MADONNA AND CHILD IMAGERY, VINTAGE NURSERY DECOR AND TRADITIONAL PERIOD INTERIORS.

OVERALL FRAME SIZE: APPROX. 34 CM X 41 CM (IN INCHES: APPROX. 13.4 IN X 16.1 IN)