Honey Label for David Garnett at Charleston

After studying at the University of London's Slade School of Art Carrington became associated with the Bloomsbury Group. In 1917 she formed a devoted platonic partnership with Lytton Strachey, a bond that survived affairs on both sides and Carrington's marriage to Ralph Partridge. Since the artist exhibited rarely, her work was appreciated in her lifetime mostly by friends. Wider attention came late in the 20th century as books and exhibitions revealed her exquisite pastoral landscapes and striking portraits to a wider audience. The artist also produced about a dozen small woodcuts, creating this jar label for David Garnett, a conscientious objector during the First World War. While working at a Sussex farm to fulfill his national service obligations, Garnett lived at Charleston, the country house leased by Vanessa Bell in 1916. The artist Duncan Grant was also part of the household. Bee-keeping was popular with many of the Bloomsbury circle and the simple imagery and lettering here echoes vernacular British models and follows design principles established by William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement.