IN THE ALEMBIC, 1978
Enamel on paper. 9 x 12½in. (23 x 32.5cm.)
Inscribed on the reverse with the artist’s name, the title and the date.
Provenance
National Trust bequest.
The work is unframed, and has probably never been exhibited.
The alembic is an apparatus used in distillation, consisting of a gourd shaped vessel and a connection to convey the products to a receiver. This, in common with many terms used in alchemy also has a sexual content; alembic is an alchemical term for the uterus.