Original gouache and pencil illustration on illustration board. 34.5x24 cm (13½x9½").
Signed by the artist at lower left corner: "Michael 1909." A pen note on the back indicating "Morning Star p. 198." Beautifully rendered, this image was indeed used for the color plate facing page 198 in H. Rider Haggard's novel, a fantasy set in ancient Egypt. This was one of three plates in the book, the scene depicted here portraying the blonde queen Neter-Tua just after she has claimed the throne of Egypt, enraging Prince Abi and his dusky acolytes. AC Michael's illustrations captivated a generation of readers, but the original artwork for these illustrations appears on the market very infrequently. The piece at hand is the same work that was sold in 1982 by the George S. MacManus Company.
Arthur C. Marshal was a British painter, etcher and illustrator, active between 1903 and 1928. A prolific illustrator, Michael contributed to books by many popular authors, including The War in the Air by H. G. Wells (1908), A Christmas Carol by Dickens (1911), and a number of works by H. Rider Haggard, among many others.
