3rd Jul, 2025 11:00
Sir Grayson Perry C.B.E. R.A. (British b.1960)
Map of an Englishman
2004
signed and numbered from the edition of 50 verso
etching on 400gsm Rives wove
printed by Stoneman Graphics, Cornwall, published by Paragon Press, London
sheet 112 x 150cm
framed
ARR
Provenance: with Victoria Miro Gallery, London, Feb 2005, where purchased by the present owners.
Reference: see Museum of Modern Art, New York, accession number 212.2005; The British Museum, London, accession number 2005,0429.22; and The Government Art Collection, London accession number 17893, for other examples of this edition.
Note: Sir Grayson Perry’s Map of an Englishman is a monumental etching which reflects the artist's enduring engagement with language, culture, humour, and the symbolism of cartography. In this imagined island landscape, Perry reconfigures the identity of an Englishman through a psychological, emotional, and comic lens. Stylistically, it draws on the visual language of 16th- and 17th-century cartography, with elaborate detailing that both honours and subverts the tradition of mapping the unknown. Rather than geographical features, the terrain is composed of states of mind, behavioural tendencies, phrases, and inner feelings. Lakes, forests, and towns bear names such as The Moment, Straight-Jacket, and Botox, charting a complex internal world rather than an external one.
The work was created in 2004, the year after Perry won the Turner Prize- becoming the first ceramicist to receive the prestigious award. Though widely celebrated for ceramics, Perry's practice is expansive, encompassing tapestry, sculpture, and print, particularly woodcut and etching- mediums rooted in artistry and craft. That same year, Perry joined the Victoria Miro Gallery, London, and was introduced to master printmaker Hugh Stoneman.
Stoneman, who opened his first studio in 1972, was widely regarded as one of Britain’s most skilled printmakers. He established Stoneman Graphics in 1995, where this work was ultimately produced. The involvement of a printer of Stoneman’s calibre was essential in translating Perry’s intricate, hand-drawn aesthetic into print. Stoneman gave Perry sheets of acetate on which the artist could draw directly; the drawings were then transferred onto four copper etching plates, capturing the spontaneity of his stream-of-consciousness approach. Perry has described the landform as a metaphor for the human brain, he worked from upper left to the lower right corner, with darker psychological content, such as Sin and Codswallop, occupying the lower right quadrant, evoking subconscious or repressed areas of the mind. The four etching plates were meticulously printed onto a single sheet of Rives paper, a technically demanding process that enhances the image’s richness, precision, and tonal depth.
Map of an Englishman is the first etching Perry made and was published by Charles Booth-Clibborn at the Paragon Press. The work stands as one of Perry’s most iconic prints, exemplifying his witty exploration of identity, class, memory, and the personal mythologies underpinning national consciousness. Other impressions from this edition are held in major art institutions, attesting to its significance within Perry’s oeuvre. Through the map format, Perry navigates and unifies disparate ideas, both intimate and universal, within a single, symbolically charged terrain.
Sold for £75,600
Includes Buyer's Premium
Do you have an item similar to the item above? If so please click the link below to request a free online valuation through our website.