Dunsyre: Little Sparta, 1987 15.3 x 15.3cm, hand-painted yellow on white ceramic tile displaying the title Concrete poem. One of a group of three such tiles each with the name of a boat alongside its official registration number (Buckie in the North East of Scotland). Often shown as part of a triptych consisting of Zephyr, Shepherd Lad and Amaryllis. One of only 100 made. VG+. ...
Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1975)
15.3 x 15.3cm., blue on white ceramic tile with the the name of a boat ZEPHYR and its registered harbour - Inverness - and number. FInlay has referred to the boat name before - it clearly has positive implications for sailors given a zephyr is regarded as a sort of bonus wind to speed up a journey. When one looks up the background of the boat one finds that it was "Built at Dunbar in 1969. (A) scalloper owned by John MacAlllister Ltd of Oban. Throughout his artistic endeavours Finlay always felt the need to return to the sea, - much like a scalloper. One of only 100 made. Scare. VG+ Murray has this as 7.51. .
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Freiburg: Kunstverein Freiburg, 1975 110.5 x 21cm, 2pp announcement card for an exhibition of Beuys' work from 1947 to 1964. The front of the card shows the work Ketttenglied from 1959 - which is the same image used for Beuys' first ever invite card. The back of the card with museum details is printed upside down (as were all of the cards). Slight wear on the left of corners of the card else VG+. ...
Antibes: Arocaria Editions, 1975
15 x 10.5cm, 2pp b/w artist's postcard with an image of the artist with his ventriloquist's dummy - Boltanski is pretending to hammer a nail into the wall as if he is a father attempting DIY. Verso publisher's info and standard postcard design VG+.
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Antibes: Arocaria Editions, 1975
15 x 10.5cm, 2pp b/w artist's postcard with an image of the artist with his ventriloquist's dummy during a performance. The artist is trying to feed the dummy but it appears to be refusing to eat. Verso publisher's info and standard postcard design VG+.
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Amsterdam: Seriaal, 1975 21 x 15cm, 2pp announcement card with a Boltanski photograph of the artist pretending to be an elderly female on the front, verso gallery details. VG+. ...
Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1975
15,5 x 17.6cm, 6pp folding card printed on one side only black on pink with a drawing of three partially blown dandelion seed heads by Laurie Clark. The French title means flower clock - and the partly distributed seeds on the heads of the drawing remind one of a coded time - - perhaps a quarter before four?
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Dunsyre: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1975
7.5 x 7.8cm, 4pp small folding card with a drawing of a church and a beached boat by Laurie Clark. The scene has several elements that are visually similar - the four leaf plants (clovers?), the propellor on the boat, and the church windows all have the same shape. The word "Eastertide" simply means Easter but it has additional meaning because the boat cannot move until the tide comes in. Additionally in the Biblical myth around Jesus, the role of fish and fishermen as metaphors are often central. One is forced to conclude this is a religious card - something that does not come up too often in Finlay's work. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (c. 1975?)
12 x 24cm., brown on white ceramic tile. The well known song Oranges & Lemons is re-written to re-contextualise the nursery rhyme to a maritime alternative - each rhyme ends with a fishing port and that geographical distinction defines which boat is chosen to make the couplet. Date unknown but all other Finlay tiles were published in the mid 70s. This tile is not in Murray or any other catalogue raisonne. A rarity. VG+.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 19975
3 x 4.5cm, copper and brass plated aluminium medallion with chain. With a design by Ron Costley (which originally was created for the exhibition Heroic Emblems) of a wartime light cruiser with smoking chimney sacks. The drawing is a representation of one of the poet's earlier one-word poems - namely:
KLEINER KREUZER SONATA
Emden
The reference here is a poetic equivalence of a "Kleiner Kreuzer" (a light cruiser) and the Kreu(t)xer Sonata by Beethoven. Both are suggested to be celebrated by mention of the German Warship Emden which was celebrated for its heroic exploits by its national populus (and, of course, Beethoven also was German).
All of the Heroic Emblems showed modern machines (mostly of war) in reference to Classical myths. With original box and 14.5 x 14.5cm, 1pp (folded twice) leaflet with a commentary by Stephen Bann. Edition size not known but very hard to find.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 19975
3.5cm, dia. copper and brass plated aluminium medallion with chain. With a design by Ron Costley (which originally was created for the exhibition Heroic Emblems) of an aircraft carrier with a plane taking off from the deck. The original drawing relates to the USS Enterprise at the battle of Midway where the Japanese fleet was destroyed by the Americans. Finlay sees the aircraft carrier as typifying the classical elements of air, earth, sky, water and fire.
All of the Heroic Emblems showed modern machines (mostly of war) in reference to Classical myths. With original box and 14.5 x 14.5cm, 1pp (folded twice) leaflet with a commentary by Stephen Bann. Edition size not known but very hard to find.
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Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, n.d. (1975)
14.8 x 14.8cm., green on white ceramic tile with the names of five boat names (and their registered harbours). A fore-and-aft rig is a sailing vessel rigged mainly with sails set along the line of the keel. The names are all optimistic and the typography reflects the shape of the vessels. The title is alliterative around the letter F. One of only 100 made. Scare. VG+.
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