Stanley Littlejohn

Littlejohn's work on William Blake's Glad Day is one of the restorer's most regarded achievements.

Stanley Littlejohn (born Camberwell, London 1876 – died 1917) was an English painting conservator and restorer. He is best known for his work on Tintoretto's sketches,^[1] and for his restoration of a number of paintings and drawings by William Blake, including Glad Day^[2] and The Ghost of a Flea.

Littlejohn began his career as an engraver. In 1904, he was appointed to the staff of the British Museum repairing and restoring workshop, and became its head in 1908.^[3] He had a deep interest in Oriental painting and employed many of the techniques of master Japanese methods of mounting,^[4] and advised on work on the Aurel Stein Collection.^[5] He was employed by the National Portrait Gallery on two occasions, when he worked on pieces by John Constable, George Richmond and Alfred Stevens.^[4] He served with the Royal Engineers during the First World War. On his eighth day of active combat, he was killed when he was struck on the head by shrapnel from a shell which had exploded close to him.^[3]

On his death, he was described as a "uniquely gifted craftsman and valuable public servant", who in his field "had no rival anywhere".^[4] In 1918, The Burlington Magazine wrote that "each artist of this rank leaves an actual void which can never be filled by anyone else".^[6]

Notes

1. "The British Library general catalogue of printed books 1976 to 1982". British Library, 1983. 66
2. Bindman, David. William Blake: catalogue of the collection in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Fitzwilliam Museum, 1970. 37
3. Laurence and Colvin, 16-19
4. "British picture restorers, 1630-1950 - L". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved on 17 January 2010.
5. Helen Wang, Helen Persson and Frances Wood, "Dunhuang Textiles in London: a history of the collection" in Helen Wang (ed.) Sir Aurel Stein: Colleagues and Collections, British Museum Research Publication 184, 2012.https://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/19_Wang-Persson-Wood.pdf
6. Veitch, 37-38

Bibliography

• Binyon, Laurence and Colvin, Sidney. "The Late Stanley William Littlejohn". The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, Volume 32, No. 178, January 1918.
• Veitch, H. N. "The 'Jerusalem Dish' at Sotheby's". The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, Volume 33, No. 184, July 1918.