Lot 590: Katrina S. Kaufmann, The Sign Post, Watercolor and Gouache, 1937 41x52cm

This original work on paper, executed in watercolor with gouache highlights, is titled The Sign Post. The narrative composition depicts a flamboyant male figure in a red 18th-century style frock coat with white lace ruffs, blue breeches, and a plumed hat, standing in a dramatic pose before a rocky cave entrance. To the left, a skeletal figure is shackled by chains to a twin palm tree, with a brightly colored green and blue parrot perched atop the skull. The foreground includes a woven basket containing bottles and a blue-patterned ceramic vessel. The style is illustrative and whimsical, signed and dated in the lower right corner Katrina S. Kaufmann 1937.

The painting is housed in a giltwood frame under glass. The reverse of the wooden backing board features extensive provenance. A handwritten inscription in ink reads RA 1939, indicating an exhibition history at the Royal Academy. Multiple labels are present: a printed paper label from R. JACKSON & SONS, Picture Frame Makers and Artists Colourmen, 18a, SLATER STREET, LIVERPOOL, 1. which also bears the handwritten name K. S. KAUFMANN; a second label from the same firm; and a shipping or storage label from JAMES BOURLET & SONS, Ltd., Fine Art Packers, Frame Makers, 17 & 18, NASSAU STREET, MORTIMER STREET, W. with the number B 50775. A further handwritten paper label identifies the title as The Sign Post and gives the artist’s address as 164 Upper Parliament St. Liverpool. 8. with a price of £10-10-0.