Percy John Delf Smith, R.D.I. 1882-1948.
Royal Marine Artillery Camp. The Evening Before the Battle of Messines. 1918. Drypoint. 6 3/8 x 7 7/8 (sheet 9 1/4 x 10 1/2.) Series: Twelve Drypoints of the War 1914-1918. A rich impression with velvety drypoint burr, printed on cream wove paper. Signed and titled in pencil. $1,750.
Thiepval Wood. 'Bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang'. 1918. Drypoint. 7 7/8 x 6 3/8 (sheet 10 3/4 x 8 3/4.) Series: Twelve Drypoints of the War 1914-1918. Slightmat line; otherwise good condition. A rich impression with velvety drypoint burr, printed on simili-japon paper. Signed and titled in pencil. $2,000.
Percy John Delf Smith, RDI( Royal Designer for Industry), was a member of the Royal Society of Arts.
A painter, callingrapher and book designer, he studied in London and exhibited at the R.A. He worked in Palestine (1932)and the United States, During World War I, Lieutenant Smith served with the Royal Marines Artillery in the trenches on the western Front
in France and later in Belgium. He lettered several warship plaques, one in Beccles Town Hall for the Minesweeper 'HMS Brave'.
He established the Dorian (later Dorno) Workshop & Studio, served as a consultant to Heinemann, and specialized in typographic design. He continued to pursue his work as a visual artist alongside his career as typographer and calligrapher. Among his most notable projects was the four year commission for the lettering of the Canadian War Memorial at Vimy Ridge. He was a Fellow or member of several professional societies of artists, as well as of the Society of Calligraphers and the Double Crown Club.
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