Year 1911 Location Private collection Created 1911 | Medium Oil on canvas Artist Edmund Leighton Support Canvas | |
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Dimensions 98 cm × 44 cm (39 in × 17 in) Similar God Speed, The Accolade, The King and the Beggar‑maid, The Lady of Shalott, Boreas | ||
Stitching the Standard is a painting by British artist Edmund Leighton. It depicts a nameless damsel on the battlements of a medieval castle making the finishing touches to a standard or pennant with a black eagle on a gold background. In a time of peace the woman has taken her needlework into the daylight away from the bustle of the castle.
The painting represents a late Pre-Raphaelitism, when life was untarnished by World War I. Stitching the Standard is probably listed as The Device by Leighton's biographer Alfred Yockney among the pictures from 1911.
Provenance
On 23 April 1928 the painting appeared at Christie's under the title Preparing the Flag and was bought by W. W. Sampson. On 26 September 1977, as Awaiting his Return, it was bought by Richard Green at Phillips. On 27 June 1978, as Stitching the Standard, the painting was sold at Sotheby's in Belgravia to a private collector.