HANDMADE

[London]: Natalie d'Arbeloff, 1987. A UNIQUE COPY. 275 x 324 mm. (10 7/8 x 12 3/4"). [7] leaves of handmade paper.
Embossed plastic covers with 3-D collages of gloves, tools, and other everyday items, the upper cover stained brown, the lower cover blue, backed with beige buckram stitched together with white string. In the original apricot-colored burlap envelope, the upper cover with the outline of a hand embroidered in tan, the flap similarly embroidered with the word "HANDMADE," Velcro closures. Each leaf with embossed, printed, or collage images of hands. Final leaf signed by the artist in pencil and dated 1986. ◆In mint condition.

This unique work by noted book artist Natalie d'Arbeloff is handmade in every sense of the word. As she notes on her website, "The cover was made from objects which happened to be lying around the workshop of a friend who had a vacuum-forming machine which I wanted to try. The hand motif is repeated in different ways on each page with collage, blind-embossing and monoprinting on handmade paper." D'Arbeloff (b. 1929) is a London-based painter, printmaker, cartoonist, graphic novelist, book artist, and teacher. Her work is represented in the Library of Congress, the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Vatican Library, among others. Now in her nineties, she remains a full-time working artist..