'Skipper makes friends with the dragon'

The present drawing is thought to be an illustration to The Fairy Blacknose, which may be related to Andrew Lang's fairy tales, the long series of little books illustrated by Ford that a generation of Edwardians grew up on. Having studied under Sir Hubert von Herkomer at the Bushey School (see lot 21), Ford was also strongly influenced by his friend Edward Burne-Jones. He focused on legend and folklore as his subject matter, producing his pictures with clear, assured pen work. His black and white work, as seen in the present drawing, is similar to Walter Crane and owes a great deal to Moxton's versions of Tennyson, published in the mid-1800s.