Jonny Hannah – Mysterious Mose – Signed Limited-Edition Screenprint 19/50 – Cakes & Ale Press – 2003

Description

A particularly strong early original screenprint by Jonny Hannah, entitled Mysterious Mose, produced in 2003 through Hannah’s Cakes & Ale Press.

The print measures 37.8 × 56 cm and was issued in a small edition of only 50 impressions. This example is number 19/50, individually signed by Jonny Hannah in pencil and dated 2003. The Cakes & Ale Press identification is incorporated into the left-hand margin of the composition.

Printed predominantly in a rich cobalt blue against the pale paper ground, the image is dense, theatrical and deliberately strange. At its centre is an elongated, dramatically posed figure surrounded by a succession of floating “OH” motifs, disembodied forms, theatrical characters, urban architecture and fragments of graphic imagery. Along the left-hand edge, Hannah sets the title vertically:

MYSTERIOUS MOSE

followed by the edition and Cakes & Ale Press details.

The restricted two-colour treatment gives the print the visual force of an old music broadside, pulp advertisement or cheaply printed entertainment poster, while Hannah’s scratchy draughtsmanship and hand-drawn typography ensure that the image remains unmistakably his own.

“Mysterious Mose”

The title has a genuine popular-music lineage.

Mysterious Mose was the title of a popular American song written by Walter Doyle in 1930. Contemporary trade material from that year records it among the notable popular numbers then being promoted, and it quickly acquired a slightly eerie, novelty-song identity.

The song was also used in the 1930 Fleischer Studios animated short Mysterious Mose, an early Talkartoons film featuring a formative version of Betty Boop and the character Bimbo. The cartoon turned the song into a surreal sequence of nocturnal scares, strange creatures and mechanical transformation.

That cultural background is highly compatible with Hannah’s own interests. Rather than presenting a literal illustration of the song or cartoon, he appears to absorb its atmosphere: jazz-age novelty music, spooky theatricality, cartoon distortion, urban nightlife and vernacular entertainment graphics.

An Early Hannah Print

The 2003 date is especially important.

This places Mysterious Mose comparatively early in Hannah’s independent printmaking career and well before many of the better-known later Darktown and McVouty works.

The small edition of 50 copies, combined with the early date and strong subject matter, gives the work particular collector interest.

There is a rawness here that is especially attractive in Hannah’s earlier screenprints. The composition is less polished than a conventional commercial illustration and instead feels closer to a handmade poster, private visual joke or piece of invented popular ephemera.

Typography and Graphic Language

As with much of Hannah’s work, lettering is an integral part of the image rather than an afterthought.

The vertical MYSTERIOUS title uses block capitals decorated with small stars, while the repeated “OH” forms become almost musical punctuation across the composition.

This mixture of text, image and rhythm reflects Hannah’s longstanding interest in music, hand lettering, old advertisements, jazz graphics, folk art and popular entertainment.

The image has the energy of a performance poster: crowded, noisy, mysterious and slightly unruly.

Cakes & Ale Press

The work was issued through Hannah’s Cakes & Ale Press, his personal imprint for limited-edition prints, books and artist-published ephemera.

That provenance is particularly relevant to an early work such as this. Rather than being a later commercial reproduction, Mysterious Mose belongs directly to Hannah’s independent printmaking practice and was conceived as a small-edition artist’s screenprint.

Edition

This example is:

19/50

from a total edition of only 50 impressions.

The combination of:

• early 2003 date;
• small edition;
• original pencil signature;
• substantial sheet size;
• Cakes & Ale Press provenance;
• and strong music / popular-culture subject matter

makes it a particularly appealing early Hannah print.

Condition

Very good to excellent condition overall.

The rich blue printing remains strong, clean and highly effective against the pale sheet.

There is only very minor evidence of handling or age visible from the supplied photographs. Any small irregularities in ink coverage are consistent with the handmade screenprinting process and form part of the character of the work.

The pencil signature and edition number 19/50 remain clearly visible.

Please study the photographs carefully as they form an integral part of the description.

Artist: Jonny Hannah
Title: Mysterious Mose
Date: 2003
Medium: Original screenprint
Publisher: Cakes & Ale Press
Edition: 19/50
Signed: Yes, in pencil
Size: 37.8 × 56 cm
Format: Original limited-edition screenprint
Unframed: Yes
Modern reproduction: No

Authenticity

This print has been handled, inspected and catalogued in-house at Hornseys.

The pencil signature, edition number and original Cakes & Ale Press information are all present.

It is an original signed and numbered Jonny Hannah screenprint from an edition of only 50, not a later reproduction.

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Explore our evolving collection of Jonny Hannah original paintings, signed and limited-edition prints, illustrated books and related artworks. His distinctive imagery, hand lettering and narrative style draw upon music, maritime culture, vintage advertising, folk art, popular entertainment and the visual character of British towns and seaside communities.

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Established in 1976 and based in Ripon, North Yorkshire, Hornseys is an independent gallery and bookseller specialising in original art, prints, design, collectable books and historic material. Every item is handled, inspected and catalogued in-house at our Ripon gallery.