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We are the exclusive dealers for a genuine set of woodcuts by Walter J. Phillips (1884-1963). Phillips was a noted Canadian watercolor painter and printmaker. This was his fourth portfolio issued in 1931 called "Ten Woodcuts". It was published as an edition of 200. The prints in the portfolio included seven color woodcuts and three wood engravings.

The pictures on this page are scans of the actual prints with links to larger images. The larger scans are cropped to show to numbers and signatures that are on each woodcut print. The paper is thin - slightly heavier than modern tissue paper. You may also see photos of the cover and index page.

Because of the uniqueness of this collection, we are taking EMAIL BIDS ONLY. Please, serious bidders only. First consideration is given to bidders for the entire collection as a whole.

Grain Elevator at LaSalle, Manitoba, 1931
Color woodcut
19.4 x 31.1 cm
First print - View larger image

Fall, Assiniboine River, 1931
Color woodcut
17.5 x 25.6 cm
Second print - View larger image

Lake MacArthur, Canadian Rockies, 1931
Color woodcut
19 x 23.3 cm
Third print - View larger image

Lake of the Woods, 1931
Color woodcut
16.4 x 23.9 cm
Fourth print - View larger image

Summer Night, 1931
Color woodcut
17.7 x 24.1 cm
Fifth print - View larger image

Warren's Landing, Lake Winnipeg, 1931
Color woodcut
16.7 x 24.1 cm
Sixth print - View larger image

The Diving Board, 1930
Color woodcut
22 x 14.2 cm
The print was re-issued in 1931 as an alternative seventh print in the Ten Woodcuts portfolio.
View larger image


Rushing River, Lake of the Woods, 1931
Wood engraving
13.9 x 17.1 cm
Eighth print - View larger image

Valley of the Ten Peaks, 1930
Wood engraving
12.4 x 16.2 cm
Ninth print - View larger image

Snake Island, Lake Winnipeg, 1931
Wood engraving
13.3 x 19.8 cm
Tenth print - View larger image

ALSO INCLUDED IN THIS LOT
Siwash House Posts, Tsatsisnukomi, British Columbia , 1928
Color woodcut on paper (edition: 300)
15.9 x 22.5 cm
View larger image

This print is in the 1928 portfolio of seven color prints entitled The Canadian Scene. Phillips provided the following commentary:

Alert Bay did not display that wealth of Siwash art I had been led to expect. The place has been stripped of course: huge totem poles have been transplanted, all the masks and costumes incidental to the now illegal potlatch ceremonies have been confiscated. Most of the large community houses have been evacuated, and in some cases razed, while all that is left of the others —huge pillars supporting the roof-tree, all fluted with the adze—reminds you of the columned aisles of an ancient temple. Some of the columns are sculptured inn heraldic devices and these, and the dug-out canoes, gave me a tremendous respect for Siwash art. I wanted to see more of it. So we provisioned the gas-boat and, when the tide was favourable, for it runs fast in those channels, we sailed east for perhaps twenty miles past delightful, but deserted islands, the snowcapped peaks of the Coast Range ahead and the mountains of Vancouver Island astern. The occasional turbulence of the sea was caused by the tide. Whirlpools formed and vanished. A backwash from some shore athwart the race made rough water. Kelp in great quantities was present everywhere. Late in the afternoon, we came to Tsatsisnukomi. The gleaming beach, shaped like the new moon, was fringed with a row of buildings, mostly weathered grey. There were community-houses, both habitable and derelict, and a few shacks in the American style. A fine canoe with a painted prow, lay on the beach. The only carvings visible were within a dismantled community house and had served as supports for its mighty rafters. They were obviously family crests and as such, were quite as interesting as many of the devices issued by the College of Heralds. The place was entirely deserted save by an army of large and loath some slugs and the ghosts of dead Indians. The forest presses on the back walls of the buildings.

This is a winter village. The whole population was, at that time, fishing, with headquarters some miles away.

The animals represented in the print are bears, each with a wolf gnawing at its stomach.