[Yeats, W.B.]--Craig, Edward Gordon.

(i) Mask for Blind Man in "On Baile's Strand", etching on paper, initialled "ECG", presentation inscription from the artist to w.b. yeats, in Clarke & Davis frame, additionally signed and dated with monogram "EGC 1912", some darkening around the margins; (ii) Childe Roland [The Face of a Scene], etching on paper, presentation inscription from the artist to w.b. yeats ("To WB Yeats. 1912"), additionally signed and dated with monogram "EGC 1910"



The first etching is for one of the masks in Yeats's On Baile's Strand (Abbey Theatre, Dublin, 1911). The inscription reads "Project for a mask not to be made, until the maker can turn to it himself. Designed in Moscow in 1911 during the last rehearsal for Hamlet. It was such a relief to turn to something nearer home than the 16th century - & to work on a piece of pure copper instead of a disreputable thing known as the modern stage. EGC 1912"

Anne Yeats, W.B. Yeats's daughter

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, when appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Yeats and the theatre director, designer and wood-engraver Edward Gordon Craig (1872–1966) became friends around 1900, mainly thanks to their mutual love of the theatre. Yeats admired Craig's theories about designing and arranging sets, based upon the use of screens, various sixed cubes and the clever use of light and shadow. In a letter to Craig dating from around 1901 Yeats hailed the designer's work as the creation of a "new art".

When Yeats was writing On Baile's Strand, he envisioned the Blind Man character as costumed in a mask. He sent Craig a copy of the play with a note saying "I'd like to know if you think that the fool and the blind man ought to wear a mask". Craig replied a month later with sketches. Of this design, he wrote "It is rather more realistic than a cross, and I take it that the man sees with his nose. I imagine that he smells his way in the dark, and he seems to keep an eternal kind of windy whistling with his pursed-up lips. The advantage of a mask over a face is that it is always repeating unerringly the poetic fancy, repeating on Monday in 1912 exactly what it said on September 1909... let us again cover his face with a mask in order that his expression - the visualised expression of the poetic spirit - shall be everlasting".