The Bottle Neck, Close to the Corner of a Street. Andersen’s Fairy Tales. New York, 1945.
SZYK, Arthur. The Bottle Neck. Signed and Dated “Arthur Szyk, (New York) (19) 45”. Illustration for “The Bottle Neck” in Andersen’s Fairy Tales. Pen and ink on and pencil on paper. Sheet size: 7″ x 5 1/2″. Image size: 6 3/8″ x 3 3/4″. Very Good condition.
This original drawing by Arthur Szyk was reproduced as a full-page illustration for “The Bottle Neck,” one of the stories included in the American edition of Andersen’s Fairy Tales published in 1945. Szyk created many fancifully intricate illustrations for tales throughout the collection. The innumerable architectural elements in this stunningly detailed drawing, along with the many items of domestic life also shown, transport the viewer to an intimate Old World neighborhood.
The story entitled “The Bottle Neck” tells of the events witnessed by a bottle (and afterward, its remnant of a bottleneck) throughout its long life and many travels. The bottle begins its life by being filled with wine and marking the betrothal of a furrier’s daughter. After being discarded and forgotten several times over, the bottle finally is dropped from a great height and becomes a mere “bottle neck.” Following the breakage, a bystander picks up this remaining piece, plugs it with a cork, and gives it to an “old maid” of the neighborhood so that her pet bird may drink water from it.
The center of Szyk’s drawing shows a romantically dilapidated four-story townhouse. The plaster of the building’s exterior walls has peeled off in many places, revealing the brickwork underneath. A front doorway sits at ground level beside a window with a chair and a pail in front of it. Two windows punctuate each of the second, third, and fourth stories, and a garret tops the structure. Two gables and a chimney protrude through the tiled roof covering the garret, and a birdcage hangs gently from the gable facing the street. Szyk has thus placed the birdcage of the story near the top of his drawing.
Within the cage, the resident bird and its “bottle neck” of a drinking vessel are minutely but distinctly rendered. Arthur Szyk has adorned this handsome drawing with many other revealing details, from the gutters and downspouts of the buildings in the scene to the spires and pinnacles rising from roofs all over the neighborhood. Plants and flowers in pots and vases, as well as a corked jug, sit contentedly on the window sills of the central townhouse, while an elegant wrought-iron street lamp hangs from the same building out onto the corner of the sidewalk.
To the right of the townhouse, a smaller home of two stories has a cat on the roof and a potted plant on the sill of the large window above the doorway. The stately double doors of the house are surmounted with an elegant stone pediment. At the right of the doorway are a doorbell and bench, and to the left one sees a plaque with a Star of David at its top, “ARTHUR · SZYK · ” in the center, and the year “45” at its base. Beneath the drawing itself, the artist has written in the lower left corner of the sheet “10 (Andersen.) ‘The Bottle Neck’”. The number “10” may mean that this was the tenth drawing created by Szyk for the story collection. At the bottom right of the sheet, Szyk has repeated the first words of the story, “Close to the corner of a street. . . .”
A master artist here captures a quiet corner of busy urban life with astonishing precision and skill. Arthur Szyk’s inimitable vision shines through this gem of an original piece.
Provenance: Parke Bernet Sale, New York, Mrs. Arthur Szyk, November 24, 1961. Lot 12B.
Publishing History: Andersen’s Fairy Tales. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1945.
