‘I Lay my Body down to Sleep’, by Georgie Gaskin [Georgina Cave France]

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I Lay my Body down to Sleep

Georgie Gaskin

Photo-mechanical reproduction of coloured wood block engravings by Edmund Evans

3½ x 2¾ inches

Watts, Isaac. Divine and Moral Songs, facing 38.

Gaskin at her most sentimental, in strict accordance with Watts’s pious verse. [Commentary continues below.]

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As usual, the design is in part a narrative and in part an abstracted pattern which is animated by small, intimate details – notably the bow on the pillow and the hoop-like haloes which seem like pantomime wear: imagery that would resonate with a juvenile audience.

Bibliography

Watts, Isaac. Divine and Moral Songs. London: Elkin Matthews, 1896.

Created 6 October 2020