William Blake (1757-1827)

William Blake (1757-1827)
The Empress Maud in Bed
Pencil, 1819, page 25 from the Blake Varley sketchbook
15.7 x 20.2cm; 6¼ x 8in

Provenance:
John Varley;
William Mulready;
By whom sold Christie's 28-30 April 1864, lot 86, where purchased by Kempton;
H. Buxton Forman;
By whom given in 1870 to William Bell Scott;
Left at Penkill Castle, home of Miss Alice Boyd;
By descent to her niece, Miss Eleanor Margaret Courtney-Boyd, 1897;
By descent to her niece, Miss Evelyn May Courtney-Boyd, 1946;
From whom purchased by M. D. E. Clayton-Stamm;
By whom sold, Christie's, London, Important English Drawings and Watercolours, 15 June 1971, lot. 163;
Colnaghi, London;
Property of a former museum keeper, collected between the 1930s and 1970s

Exhibited:
London, The Tate Gallery, William Blake, March - May 1978, no.285

Literature:
David Bindman, Blake as an Artist (Phaidon, 1977), p.202
Martin Butlin, William Blake, exh. cat. (Tate Gallery, 1978), p.136, no.285;
Martin Butlin, The Paintings and Drawings of William Blake, (Yale University Press, 1981), vol.1, p.498, no.692.25

The present work originally formed part of the Blake-Varley Sketchbook. This book contained works by both William Blake and John Varley (1778-1842). The drawings by Blake are mostly portrayals of supposed manifestations of historical people, the so-called 'Visionary Heads', made at the behest of Varley, who was an amateur astrologer. In addition to the present work, there were two further depictions of the Empress Maud (1102-1167). Usually known as Matilda, she was the daughter of Henry I of England, and married Emperor Henry V. After her husband's death she returned to England and was recognised by her father as his successor, but this was opposed by her cousin Stephen.