I know I have a tendency to say it, but this drawing has to be one of my favorite things ever, and a perfect reminder of why drawings are my favorite things among all things, possessing an immediacy, intimacy and spontaneity unlike anything else. How to beat this smiling “Jack the Giant Killer,” his paddle-looking club cheerfully raised, portrayed as himself very much the giant among his foes? (First published in the early 18th century, the gore-heavy fairly tale of Jack and the Giants is Cornish in origin, set during King Arthur's reign, and features young Jack slaying numerous evil giants and freeing many captive damsels.) And then whether the pipe-smoking man in profile below is meant to represent a more period version of the one of the giants I’m not sure, but he’s certainly given exaggerated treatment and the juxtaposition is pretty great.
Sold in the frame I found it it, where it appears to have lived for quite a long time. I have not taken it apart but it appears to me that it was done on the inside cover of an old school geography book, with "geography" just barely showing through on the drawing side if one looks carefully. Drawing is in black ink, late 19th c or so I’d guess. Some staining and age toning but very clear and bold and fabulous.
Framed: 9 1/2” x 6 1/2” Sight: 7 x 4 1/16”.
