Lot #776: Vintage 1900s UK Art Postcard - "Eyre & Spottiswoode Ltd." - "The Vigil" - John Pettie - "Woodbury Series" - "Printed in England"

One Vintage UK 1900s Art Postcard, unused, showing a Knight with white tunic and red cape praying before an alter, iron helmet on the ground, holding the sword aloft, with caption "The Vigil". This richly coloured postcard indicates the publisher as "Eyre & Spottiswoode Ltd. Woodbury Series, No. 4115. Printed in England. The Vigil. John Pettie, R.A. (Tate Gallery). No Stamp. Never Postally Used. No Message. This Woodbury Series card is a prestigious reproduction of one of the most iconic paintings of the late-Victorian "Chivalric" movement. Originally painted in 1884, the "The Vigil" by by the Scottish artist John Pettie captures the final stage of a candidate's journey to knighthood. The "Vigil" was a night-long fast and prayer held in a church before the "dubbing" ceremony. The knight’s white tunic symbolizes purity, while the red cape represents the blood he is willing to shed for his cause. Eyre & Spottiswoode were the "King's Printers," a firm of immense prestige that held the patent to print the Book of Common Prayer and the Authorized Version of the Bible. Their "Woodbury Series" was named after the Woodburytype process, though by the time this postcard (No. 4115) was printed, it likely used a high-end Carbon Print or Collotype method. These techniques were favored by fine-art publishers because they did not use the "dots" of traditional lithography, resulting in a continuous-tone image that looked like a genuine photograph of the painting. Unlike many cards "Printed in Germany," Eyre & Spottiswoode took pride in their domestic British printing capabilities, which were considered the gold standard for institutional and religious documents. Dimensions: 9 mm x 14 mm Pickup category timeslot {A}