Jessie M. King
Jessie Marion King | |
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Glasgow Style, Symbolism | |
Spouse | E. A. Taylor |
Jessie Marion King (20 March 1875 – 3 August 1949) was a Scottish
Early life and education
King was born at the manse, New Kilpatrick, in Bearsden, Dunbartonshire, near Glasgow.[4] Her father was James Wat(t)ers King, a minister with the Church of Scotland, and her mother was Mary Anne Anderson. She received a strict religious education and was discouraged from becoming an artist. When King was very young, she would hide drawings she made in school for fear that her mother would tear them up.[5] Mary McNab, the family housekeeper, was a formative influence, and was regarded by King as her second mother.[6] King had a spiritual experience in Argyll as a teenager when she fell asleep on a hillside and felt the touch of fairies, in whose existence she continued to believe.[7]
Jessie M. King began training as an art teacher in 1891 at Queen Margaret College (Glasgow). In 1892 she entered the Glasgow School of Art. As a student, she received a number of awards, including her first silver medal from the National Competition, South Kensington (1898).
Career and work
King was made Tutor in Book Decoration and Design at Glasgow School of Art in 1899. She continued to teach until her marriage to
King was influenced by the Art Nouveau of the period,[8] and her works correspond in mood with those of The Glasgow Four. Despite the influence of Art Nouveau, she was inspired to create unique designs where she did not literally translate the real world. "I would not copy designs," she said, "but insisted on drawing out of my head."[2] During her early period, she created detailed pen and ink illustrations on vellum.[5]
Most of King's earliest works involved illustration, but she also wrote books and was a skilled jewellery designer.[2] Her first published designs, and some people believe her finest, were for the covers of books published by Globus Verlag, Berlin, between 1899 and 1902. The publisher was a subsidiary company of the great Berlin department store, Wertheim's. The publisher, Georg Wertheim, wanted her to design "a range of items in the 'new Scottish Style.'"[2] In the years 1907–1924 she illustrated more than 20 books published by Edinburgh firm T. N. Foulis.[9] In all she illustrated, wrote, decorated or designed the cover of more than 100 books and other publications.[9][10]
She made a
In 1908 King and her husband moved to
King also decorated ceramics and worked with batik, which she is credited with introducing to Liberty's.[11][3] In 1924 she published How Cinderella Was Able to Go to the Ball, "A Brochure on Batik written and illustrated by Jessie M. King."[14]
King died at home in Kircudbright on 3 August 1949, following a heart attack. She was cremated at Kirkcudbright and her ashes were scattered at Minard, Argyll, at the church where Mary McNab was buried.[4][10]
Gallery
References
- ^ Taylor, John Russell (1 December 2004). "Real Page Turners". Times (United Kingdom). Retrieved 24 February 2015.
- ^ ISBN 0963698508.
- ^ a b "Scots Women Artists". Aberdeen Press and Journal. 24 October 1927. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/38944. Retrieved 14 February 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ a b Ortakales, Denise (2002). "Jessie M. King". Women Children's Book Illustrators. Archived from the original on 8 November 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
- ^ a b "King, Jessie M. | Robbins Library Digital Projects". d.lib.rochester.edu. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
- ISBN 0904919862.
- JSTOR 23935248,
And it is [Aubrey Beardsley's] work in this lapidarian manner which has proved influential to Miss Jessie King and to Miss Annie French, whose craftsmanship, in various of her little pictures for old ballads, has a charm making every particle claim microscopic study.
- ^ a b "Jessie M. King: Scottish Book Illustrator : Textualities". Retrieved 14 February 2020.
- ^ a b "King, Jessie M. | Robbins Library Digital Projects". d.lib.rochester.edu. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
- ^ ProQuest 326710597.
- ^ "Jessie M King | Mapping Memorials to Women in Scotland". womenofscotland.org.uk. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ISSN 0264-0856
- ^ ""Contents of How Cinderella Was Able To Go to The Ball." | Robbins Library Digital Projects". d.lib.rochester.edu. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
Further reading
- The Enchanted World of Jessie M. King by Colin White, ISBN 0-86241-363-X
- A Guide to the Printed Work of Jessie M. King (1874–1949) by Colin White, British Library, 2007, ISBN 9780712349338.
External links
- Jessie M. King illustrations at Art Passions
- Jessie Marion King biography at the Gracefield Arts Centre in Dumfries, Scotland Archived 12 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine virtual representation of the Gracefield Arts Centre's Permanent Collection at exploreart.co.uk
- Jessie M. King: Scottish Book Illustrator
- Jessie M. King, Camelot Project, University of Rochester
- Jessie M. King at Library of Congress, with 7 library catalogue records