Five Eyes

Artist Eric Ravilious (London, England, 1903 - 1942)

Date1926

Mediumwood engraving on paper

ClassificationsPrints

DimensionsPaper Size: Height: 17.1 cm, Width: 28.6 cm

AcquisitionPresented in 1951 by Rex Nan Kivell.

CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG006785

Keywords

About MeA stage-set composition is the setting for Ravilious' illustration of the poem 'Five Eyes', by Walter de la Mare (1873-1956):

In Hans' old Mill his three black cats
Watch the bins for the thieving rats.
Whisker and claw, they crouch in the night,
Their five eyes smouldering green and bright:
Squeaks from the flour sacks, squeaks from where
The cold wind stirs on the empty stair,
Squeaking and scampering, everywhere.
Then down they pounce, now in, now out,
At whisking tail, and sniffing snout;
While lean old Hans he snores away
Till peep of light at break of day;
Then up he climbs to his creaking mill,
Out come his cats all grey with meal --
Jekkel, and Jessup, and one-eyed Jill.

Walter de la Mare.
More About Me

Collections Wall

An illustration of De La Mare's 1913 poem - "Out come his cats all grey with meal, Jekkel, and Jessup, and one-eyed Jill".