"Bobby Shaftoe," by Maud Humphrey

"Bobby Shaftoe," by Maud Humphrey

c. 1891

Chromolithograph

Dating from 1891, this exquisite color print by Maud Humphrey is titled "Bobby Shaftoe" and functions as a decorative book plate illustrating the timeless maritime nursery rhyme. The visual narrative centers on a young, curly-haired girl standing on a sandy shoreline, peering out across a calm blue sea through a small brass handheld telescope. She wears a long, high-waisted tan dress with a decorative bow on the back, clutching a handkerchief in her hand as a distant white sailboat drifts on the horizon line near a discarded straw hat in the lower foreground. The traditional four-line stanzas of the verse are split diagonally across the page in a stylized gothic typeface, anchored by large pink initial letters that elegantly frame the delicate ink work and soft, muted watercolor washes characteristic of the artist's turn-of-the-century portfolio plates.

The piece is situated within the late-Victorian and early-Edwardian eras of American commercial illustration, a period marked by a surging demand for sentimental, idealized depictions of childhood. Maud Humphrey (1865–1940) was a leading and highly successful commercial artist of this generation, renowned for her watercolor illustrations in books, calendars, and greeting cards, as well as being the mother of legendary actor Humphrey Bogart. Her work was highly significant because she was one of the highest-paid female illustrators of her time, helping to define the visual style of children's literature at the turn of the century. Original antique printings of Humphrey's nursery rhyme plates remain highly coveted artifacts among collectors of vintage children's books, Victorian ephemera, and late 19th-century graphic design.

Dimensions: H 10 ½” x 8 ⅜” W

Condition: Toned with age