The Departure From The Relais - H Eliott 1882-1959

Dimensions with frame Height: 40 cm Length: 52 cm Dimensions at sight Height: 23.5 cm Length: 35.5 cm Black lacquered baguette frame, beige passepartout and pale green marie-louise. New framing. Material Lithograph in perfect condition.
Signature Bottom, left: Harry Eliott

Who does not know his illustrations, always humorous, representing, in a completely Victorian style (very inspired in particular by that of Cecil Aldin) all kinds of sometimes very funny hunting scenes running, fox hunting, stagecoach trips, in country inns, the life of the squires? This colorful character was born on June 14, 1882 in Paris, under the name of Charles Hermet. The Great War marked a major turning point in the life of Charles Hermet. Mobilized in 1914, like several of his brothers, he was reformed for serious depression after one of his brothers had been killed (by gas). He then settled in Orne, near Alençon, and made drawing his profession, illustrating many magazines.

Fascinated by England and the engravings of Cecil Aldin, he adopted the so British surname of Harry Eliott, and transformed into a true gentleman now sporting a dark frock coat, yellow ankle boots and canvas leggings. A strange and malicious character, our Charles Hermet, now Harry Eliott, takes up the themes treated "seriously" by his inspirer Cecil Aldin, but adds a good pinch of humor and derision.
He enjoys putting his subjects in a situation, creating situational comedy. This style meets his audience, and as he paints, draws, illustrates so much and so much, his fame grows and prosperity sets in. But alas, this beautiful story ends in misery, drowned in red wine and whiskey. As bad a manager of his interests as he was an excellent designer, he had ceded his rights to his works for a paltry sum, and while lithographs, reproductions and other copies flourished on the market, our poor Harry Eliott was sinking into destitution. more total all the more so as, gradually losing his sight, he hardly worked anymore…
On May 29, 1959, he was sadly buried in the small cemetery of Villez-sous-Bailleul (Eure), at age 77 years old, surrounded only by three people. The departure of the relay - The Mail Coach Appeared in England in 1784, the mail coach is a heavy, closed carriage, mounted on springs, and pulled by four horses, as shown in the lithograph by Harry Eliott. In the back, a bulky trunk contained the mail. To make postal transport as profitable as possible, the mail coach could also transport passengers. In principle no more than 4 inside, an additional passenger could be seated alongside the coachman. Over time, benches are fixed on the roof of the mail coach allowing 4 additional passengers to take place, but this made the vehicle heavier, which suddenly went slower. An email coach was traveling between 8 and 13 km / hour depending on its load, the condition of the road and the season. A postal guard, placed at the rear, armed (the roads were not always very safe), was equipped with a horn (which is also the symbol of the Swiss or Norwegian postal services). The sound of the horn alerted the post offices of the imminent arrival of the mail coach. We have this image of the Pony Express whose rider without stopping swung his bag of mail and took another on the fly. The mail coach, without acting in such a spectacular way, made a very brief stop before continuing his journey. The use of the mail coach gradually decreased in the years 1840 to 1850, supplanted by the railroad. In France, the mail coach appeared about twenty years later than in England, around 1800. Carrying fewer passengers, it was faster than the stagecoach, but suddenly, much more expensive. In 1814, the mail trunk made a Paris-Bordeaux in 86 hours, and will make the same trip in 1840 in only 37 hours (improvement of vehicles, roads…). On August 23, 1857, the last French mailbox left Toulouse for Montpellier.

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