A Trompe l’Oeil of Newspapers, Letters, and Writing Implements on a Wooden Board

Collier painted his letter racks during a boom in serial publications and in the aftermath of the event known as the Glorious Revolution (1688), when the Catholic king of England was overthrown and replaced by his Protestant offspring. Collier included actual documents related to religious conflict and the status of rulers, subtly tampering with dates and spelling. The masthead of the London Gazette, one of England’s first newspapers, seems clear enough, but the copy blurs upon close inspection. A parliamentary pamphlet titled “The Humble Address” disingenuously puns on the picture itself and its important messages to the viewer. The artist chose to juxtapose printed matter with handwritten keepsakes, raising questions about how the two differ in feel and truth value. The script of “Memorye” on the notebook cover is overly embellished, as memories often are.