Ω A UNIQUE COLLECTION OF ITEMS RELATING TO ELIZABETH KEITH (1887-1956) 20TH CENTURY Comprising: 1. a woodblock print entitled 'Forbidden City, Peking', 1935, signed 'Elizabeth Keith' lower right corner, 29.5cm x 41cm; 2. the original wooden key block for the above print, hand-carved with the main structural elements of the composition; the reverse also carved with the brown and green features in the image, 28cm x 42.7cm x 1.7cm; 3. a copy of M C Salaman 'Masters of the colour print, vol.9, Elizabeth Keith', 1933, with a hand-written dedication by Elizabeth Keith inside reading: To Mr & Mrs de Jongh from Elizabeth Keith With Christmas Greetings. 1944 4. a typed letter by Elizabeth Keith, with hand-written corrections and signed 'Elizabeth Keith' in ink, the letter reading: ' Idbury Manor. Kingham. February 8th. Dear Mr de Jongh, I must apologise for the delay in answering you, I had to go to London yesterday, and I am always busy! No women ever take part on the Noh Stage, nor in the Kabuki either, but in the modern present day plays only. (I should not be surprised to hear that has been put a stop to now!) If you would like to get an insight into the psychology of the Japanese, read the 'Year of the Wild Boar' by Helen Mear, it is excellent. The gown worn by Kongo (red) in' Hagaromo' is of the stiffest gauze perhaps 100 years old (many of his robes were much older) it would stand by itself! He wears many garments underneath. I have seen him dressed. He is a very handsome and charming man, I could not associate him with the devils who are fighting our peoples. His son-in-law hates the Militarists. I daresay he has been executed ere this! To return to the robes, they are generally stiff. The green dress is linen, it hangs more softly. He is (Shigiyama) a comic actor, and rarely has as fine garments as Kongo. Green may fade, I do not think the red will fade much, as I have so many 'coats' or 'brushings' of red! As you will not avoid temptation I shall make you a reduction of 25% if you buy two. 'Returning from the Funeral' is almost exhausted, and ought to have gone up in price. You need not decide at once, I shall not be leaving England for some time to come - Alas! I daresay you have heard that Mr Taylor has not been well, shortage of paper and a still greater shortage of staff, make it impossible for them to undertake books for newcomers! I feel it is perhaps the Partner perhaps who is not keen on Korea. We shall go elsewhere when we are ready, I should have preferred having it done by someone we know about! I think I have answered all your questions, please forgive all the mistakes, I taught myself to type not so long ago! With kind regards to you and family, Yours sincerely Elizabeth Keith.' 5. a handwritten letter by a relative of Elizabeth Keith (possibly her sister), composed shortly after the artist's death, reading: 106. Randolph Avenue WG 24.4.56 Dear Daniel, We thank you deeply for your warm sympathy and true appreciation of Elizabeth. Her loss to us is almost unbearable as she was really the centre of much that is left of our family life. She is mourned - truly mourned- by hundreds of friends in all parts of the world! It is good to realise that so many rejoiced in her quality of generous service to all she could help in some way. We so regret that the last years were spent on only caring really for a household instead of pursuing her art!! If only she could have had any peace at the end, but it was all so painful and had she ever left her sick-room she would have had led an invalid's life and we are grateful that she was spared that entailment of liberty. One can't picture her as helpless and she remains in one's memory as bright anyway. My brother-in-law is terribly cut up and had to keep his 90th birthday celebrations arranged for him by staff with a sad heart. Thank you both again. Affectionately yours, Rachel?. G.A.'; And further newspaper cuttings relating to Elizabeth Keith. (a lot) Provenance: according to the owner, the print was purchased by his grandfather, Mr de Jongh, directly from the artist at the Beaux Arts Gallery in London in 1937, and the wood key block was gifted to him by the Keith's family after her death in 1956. By repute, many of the early wood key blocks Elizabeth Keith used were lost in the fire which destroyed the studio of her publisher Watanabe Shozaburo in the 1920s, making this one a rarity.