John's Letter from New York

I have begun designs for 3 new prints in the Winterbourne Series. In October 1890, John wrote Margaret a letter from New York, where he must have been on business. He was obviously a very love struck young man, waiting for a reply to his proposal of marriage.

"Oh please write to me saying that I may come straight to you when I get home for your answer. If you have not made up your mind yet I will wait as long as you like but don't say there will never be any chance for me. Your devoted would be husband, John S Nettlefold."

I have pictured him sitting at a desk in a New York hotel or friend's apartment, penning this heart felt letter, as much as the social constraints of the day would allow. The New York skyline can be seen out of the window.

Visual research for this design have come from images from the time. Many significant buildings that stood in 1890 are no longer there, and many of the well known ones from today did not exist. I have chosen an image of 'Newspaper Row' which included the offices of the New York Times.

References for clothing and interiors have come from contemporary photos.

Again I have referenced images of Benedict Cumberbatch in Parade's End and the portrait of John himself.

So my initial outline sketches for the print look like this:

During this period, John sent Margaret a rose which she kept pressed in her diary and it is still in the Winterbourne archives. I will therefore use a rose motif for the border, something similar to the book border design I recently created.