Billethead c. 1936

Marian Page made this lovely watercolour of a Billethead, but when exactly, we don’t know. Just imagine the artist, maybe sitting in a quiet room, carefully observing and translating this object onto paper. She has captured it with such precision and care, hasn't she? The golden tones, the subtle shadows, the way the light catches the edges of the carved leaves. You can almost feel the texture of the wood. It's more than just a rendering; it’s like a conversation with the object. I wonder what was going through her head as she worked? Was she thinking about the craftsperson who made the billethead? Or was she simply lost in the act of seeing, feeling, and recording? Maybe she was thinking about art history, too, like the other artists who found inspiration in the world around them. It's all part of the same ongoing conversation. It gets me excited to see how one person's vision can spark another's, creating something new and beautiful in the process.