122 - Daphne Constance Allen,

Daphne Constance Allen, British 1899-1985 - Flower Fairies of the Seasons: Spring Summer, Fall, Winter; watercolour heightened with bodycolour on board, each signed lower right 'Daphne Allen', each 38cm diameter (4) (ARR) Note: annotated with Sotheby's chalk on the reverse Provenance: Sotheby's Belgravia, Fine Victorian Watercolours and Drawings, 27th April 1982, lot 278, (2 illus.); Private Collection; Private Collection Literature: Angels & Fairies, Flame Tree Publishing, London: 2005 (illus.p.81, 277, 289, 309) Note: Daphne Allen was the daughter of Hugh Allen, and possibly the granddaughter of Ruskin’s publisher George Allen. She was educated at Streatham College for Girls, and continued to live in that area of South London into adulthood. While still a child, Allen produced watercolours inspired by the New Testament, which were published in 1912 by George Allen as 'A Child’s Visions'. In the same year, they were exhibited as ‘A Child’s Visions and Fancies’ at the Dudley Galleries. In 1913, a second group was published as 'The Birth of the Opal. A Child’s Fancies', and again exhibited at the Dudley Galleries. Through her teens, Allen illustrated volumes by other authors for Headley Brothers: John Oxenham’s 'The Cradle of Our Lord, 1916', 'A Garden of Love from Herrick & the Other Poets of the 17th Century, 1917', and Janet Dykes and Christine Standing’s 'The Man Who Chose Poverty – The Story of St Francis, 1917'. She also exhibited alongside Annie French and others at the Burlington Gallery in December 1919. Later exhibitions include one of ‘landscapes and imaginative watercolours’ at B F Stevens & Brown (1928) and another of paintings at the Little Burlington Gallery (1937). Her further activities included painting memorials (including one for Christ Church, Newcastle, New South Wales), designing stained glass (for Scotby Church, Northumberland), and producing drawings for the 'Illustrated London News' (at least until the end of 1952).