THE BIRD OR THE EGG, 1940
Watercolour. 10 x 6¼in. (25.8 x 16.3cm.)
Inscribed on the reverse with the artist's name, the title of the work, the date and the Fairfax Road address. Other titles, on the reverse, which have been crossed out, are 'L'Oiseau or L'Oeuf?' and 'La Recherche de L'Androgyne'.
Provenance
National Trust bequest.
Tate Gallery Archive TGA 929/4/17/3.
Exhibited
London, Leicester Galleries, 1942, No. 11.
Literature
The work illustrated in b/w by Ratcliffe (2007) pl. 52, as The Bird or the Egg is, in fact, The Trees (1941). The work illustrated in b/w, pl. 54 as Linked Senses is, in fact The Bird or the Egg.
The title, in common with the rejected alternatives inscribed on the reverse, raises the question of the origin of life and the circularity of birth, life and regeneration.
In common with other visionary works of the period, the colours are vivid and intense. It is unusual, however, in that the forms are highly modulated, with a stippled surface, rather than being simple washes.
The imagery includes the chalice, the egg, the erect penis, vertical/vaginal lips and a feathery being that develops from the ejaculate.
For Gnostics, Tantrics, Qabalists and Thelemites, the semen is holy and ejaculation is sacramental. In certain traditions, the sacred ejaculate is retained in an appropriate goblet for subsequent ritual usage.
The egg symbolises the world of generation. Its oval shape, an imperfect circle, represents degeneration from the perfection of the divine unity.
Reference
Ratcliffe, E. Ithell Colquhoun. Mandrake, Oxford. 2007.