Original artwork of the Ruthven Twins for Tatler by Tony Wysard dated 1929

BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS ORIGINAL ARTWORK FOR TATLER
 
WYSARD, Tony (1907-1984). Original artwork for Tatler: "Ruthven Twins". [London, for publication in The Tatler, 6 May 1929].
 
Original gouache and ink artwork on card, 180 x 280mm, the image approximately 140 x 120mm. Captioned in pencil "Ruthven Twins" beneath the image, with printer's sizing instructions to lower margin ("Reduce to 4 1/2" wide"). Verso annotated in pencil "Tatler", "6/5/29 Urgent", together with production notes and Tatler stamp. Minor edge wear and light surface marking to board, but the artwork itself bright and striking. Very good.
 
A superb surviving piece of Bright Young Things-era artwork by Tony Wysard (1907-1984), the caricaturist associated with The Tatler, The Bystander, Harper's Bazaar and other leading illustrated periodicals of the 1930s. Executed in Wysard's distinctive stylised manner, the work depicts the celebrated "Ralli" or Ruthven Twins: Alison Mary and Margaret Leslie Hore-Ruthven, among the most recognisable figures of the late-1920s Bright Young Things set.
 
The sisters became famous for their identical appearance, theatrical dress, society antics and appearances in the illustrated press, and were included by Cecil Beaton in his Book of Beauty.