A photograph of Winston S. Churchill signed and dated on 1 June 1929, just two days after the election defeat that ended his long tenure as Chancellor of the Exchequer and began his decade-long "wilderness years".
London: Vandyk Ltd., 1929. Photograph. This extraordinary 1920s studio portrait of Winston S. Churchill is not only signed by the photographer, but also signed and dated by Churchill just two days after the election defeat of his Conservative Party that ended his long tenure as Chancellor of the Exchequer and began his decade-long “wilderness years”. The photograph is accompanied by Churchill’s typed presentation slip.
The 6.125 x 4.1875 inches gelatin silver print is mounted within a 7.875 x 5.375 inches inset on an 11.5 x 7.5 inches heavy card studio mount. Within the lower left inset, directly below the print, the photographer signed “Vandyk | London”. Within the lower right inset, in two lines directly below the print, Churchill signed “Winston S. Churchill | June 1, 1929”. The verso of the studio mount is ink-stamped “BY APPOINTMENT | VANDYK | LTD | 41 BUCKINGHAM PALACE Rd LONDON, S.W.1 | NEGATIVE No.” and hand-numbered “4 3 4 7 3 B”. An accompanying presentation slip is typed on an 8 x 5 inches sheet of Churchill’s laid, watermarked, Chartwell stationery “With Mr Churchill’s Compliments. | 18. 6. 29.”
Condition
Condition of the image is fine, with no appreciable scuffs or wear and only mild silvering. Condition of the original studio mount is very good, substantially clean with blemishes confined to the perimeter, mostly to the top edge, which shows two gently bruised upper corners, at bit of spotting along the top edge, and a paperclip rust stain that extends one inch down from the top. The blemishes and paperclip stain do not extend into the inset surrounding the image and would thus disappear beneath a frame and matting. The paperclip stain exactly matches one at the top center of the Compliments slip, attesting that they were originally and long conjoined, though the paperclip is now gone. The double-signed print and Compliments slip are both protected beneath clear, removable, mylar sleeves, these housed within a rigid, crimson cloth folder.
The Moment
This photograph is signed at a critical line of demarcation in Churchill’s career – the very beginning of his “wilderness years” – a decade he spent out of power and out of favor, increasingly at odds with both his Party and prevailing public sentiment.
Two days before he signed this photograph, in the 30 May 1929 General Election, the Conservatives lost 10 Downing Street and Churchill his Cabinet post. Churchill had been Chancellor of the Exchequer for more than five and a half years, his longest continuous tenure in any of the many Cabinet offices he held during his long career.
On 30 May Churchill had prevailed in his own constituency, retaining his seat in Parliament, but that was his only good electoral news. On 4 June – three days after he signed this photograph – Churchill traveled by train to Windsor Castle to hand back his seal of office to the King, formally resigning as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Churchill was, “for only the third time in twenty-one years, without political office.” Soon to come were the personal financial pressures brought on by the stock market crash.
Churchill could not know the full weight and import of the decade to come when he signed this photograph. In June 1929 Adolph Hitler was still a marginal political figure, more than three years away from formal political power. Churchill would spend much of the 1930s trying to convince the British government and its people to confront and contain the rise of Nazi Germany, but there were also unrelated political errors that would make Churchill’s task even harder, such as his position on India and his undeserved loyalty to the feckless King Edward VIII. Churchill would not return to Government until terribly vindicated by the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939.
The photograph and photographer
The National Portrait Gallery’s Photographs Collection holds a larger crop, glass plate transparency of this same image (NPB x129684), dated to 1923. Born to Jewish parents in Germany, Carl Vandyk (1850-1931), established his photographic studio in London in the early 1880s and became a significant portrait photographer in his time. Vandyk’s clients included members of the British royal family, European royalty, politicians, aristocrats, celebrities, and other prominent public figures. The National Portrait Gallery holds hundreds of photographs attributed to Vandyk.
Carl Vandyk became a British citizen in 1886 and his firm moved to Buckingham Palace Road – the location specified in the ink stamp on the verso of this studio print – in 1901. “Having trained with him earlier, and spent several years honing his skills in Paris, his eldest son, Herbert (1879-1943), joined him in the studio in 1900 and took over from him when he retired.” The firm was amalgamated as Bassano & Vandyk Studios in the 1960s.
References: Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill; National Portrait Gallery; ODNB; The Churchill Centre; The Victorian Web. Item #008897
Price: $15,000.00