MacDonald Gill’s painted maps are rather special. Created for a specific person, place or organisation, each is unique – or so I thought. I have managed to track down most, indeed many are still in their original locations, such as the Lindisfarne Castle wind-indicator, but several have eluded me. I was therefore elated when an email recently dropped into my mailbox from Michael Jennings of Neatline Antique Maps (an online map gallery https://neatlinemaps.com/ based in San Francisco) asking me to authenticate a painted panel map of Surrey and Sussex he had discovered in California.
Photo © and courtesy of Michael Jennings
As soon as I saw his photo, I knew I was looking at a MacDonald Gill map. I was excited but, at the same time, intrigued. I had seen an identical map some years ago in a private Sussex home, but … it had been in rather poor condition. Apart from darkened varnish masking the true colours, the wood panel had suffered shrinkage causing a significant amount of paint to flake off revealing the white chalk ground. The paint on this ‘new’ panel, by contrast, although also covered by a layer of browned varnish, showed almost no flaking. Both versions measure 76 x 86 cm (30 x 34 in.), have the same frames, and both contain the same geographical elements and pictorial details.
Painted in 1930, the maps were commissioned by Edward Hunter, owner of Sun Engraving, the largest magazine printer in Britain at that time. Max designed many graphic items for the firm, including their logo (shown right). The maps depict Hunter’s newly-built country house ‘Easeway’ in Frensham, as well as Prior’s Field and Bedales, the schools attended by his four daughters; and the initials of Hunter’s parents and siblings appear by his childhood home at Mickleham in the top right. The enjoined letters EH – partly obscured by steam from a passing ship – decorate the centre of the compass in the bottom right of the painting.
From previous research, I knew that one of the maps had originally hung at ‘Easeway’ next to a grandmother clock (pictured left), also designed and painted by MacDonald Gill. Both were exhibited at the 20th Arts and Crafts Exhibition in 1946. I also know from a member of the Hunter family that this map remained at the Frensham house till Hunter’s death in the 1980s, after which it was sold at auction. The clock was later gifted to the V&A by his daughter Eileen, who mistakenly told them it was by Max’s brother Eric – an attribution now put right!
Until I checked Max’s ledger again recently, I hadn’t noticed that the entry states ”Easeway’ Frensham pg [painting] maps’ (note the plural). It’s possible that the second panel was made for Hunter’s London home in Campden Hill Road. Eight years later, however, this panel appeared in an article (see right) in the January 1938 issue of Homes and Gardens. Described as ‘done by Mr Macdonald Gill in his delightful style’, it was now hanging in the entrance hall of Lloyd George’s home in Churt, a short distance from Frensham. This building is shown on both maps along with the initials L G so I think it highly probable that Hunter and Lloyd George knew each other. Did Hunter gift one of his maps to the former British Prime MInister? All very tantalising! If you can throw any further light on the respective journeys of these maps, do please get in touch.
Mapping the Tube 1863–2024 at The Map House
I learnt too late for my last newsletter of this selling exhibition at The Map House in Knightsbridge, London, highlighting the evolution of London’s tube map. Although the main focus was on the iconic system map designed by Harry Beck with displays of rare editions and original sketches, there were also underground maps by other artists including MacDonald Gill. Several of his system maps from the early 1920s were featured but the most eye-catching item was a framed version of his By Paying Us Your Pennies poster in the front gallery. This linen-backed folding second edition (now given the title The Wonderground Map of London Town) was brought out by Gerard Meynell of the Westminster Press in 1915 specifically for sale to the public in response to the popularity of the first edition which was pasted up on underground platforms in March 1914. The gallery is asking an eye-watering £10,000, rather more than the original asking price of 6 shillings! Several details in the accompanying text on the gallery’s website are inaccurate, but the site does have an excellent image of the poster as well as numerous other items in the exhibition.
https://www.themaphouse.com/exhibitions/57-mapping-the-tube-1863-2024/
Recent Books with MacDonald Gill links
A History of Polar Exploration in 50 Objects by Anne Strathie (The History Press, 2024. £22.99)
Anne Strathie presents a treasure trove of polar objects, including Edward Wilson’s portable paintbox, Shackleton’s sledging compass, and the Erebus bell. A seasoned polar traveller, researcher and writer, she tells the fascinating, often poignant, stories behind each of her chosen items. Her 47th ‘object’ is the Scott Polar Research Institute (including The Polar Museum) in Cambridge. Designed by Sir Herbert Baker, and opened in 1934, the building was to provide education and training for future explorers. Strathie highlights and includes photos of the 10ft diameter maps of the Arctic and the Antarctic maps in the entrance hall domes. Painted by MacDonald Gill, the maps commemorate intrepid past explorers, such as Sir John Franklin, whose gilded names fill the borders. Their expedition vessels are also represented, including Franklin’s Erebus, Scott’s 
Discovery, and even Amundsen’s airship Norge, the first aircraft to fly over the North Pole in 1926. Assisting Max on the painting was Priscilla Johnston, youngest daughter of the calligrapher Edward Johnston, who helped trace geographical outlines and paint waves under Max’s critical eye. I learnt from the book that their contribution to the building saw them invited to the formal celebration lunch at Gonville and Caius College In November 1934. Among the illustrious guests were former expedition members including James Wordie, veteran of the Endurance expedition, as well as numerous relatives of legendary explorers including the widow of Sir Robert Falcon Scott.
Every chapter in this book is a delight. A must for anyone interested in polar exploration.
https://thehistorypress.co.uk/publication/a-history-of-polar-exploration-in-50-objects/
Halsey Ricardo: A Life in Arts and Crafts by Mark Bertram (Lund Humphries, 2025. £55)
This wonderfully illustrated biography of the Arts and Crafts architect Halsey Ricardo (1853–1928) is long overdue. His best known building is 8 Addison Road in Kensington, built for Ernest Debenham. He was also ‘a champion of craftsmanship and the Arts & Crafts movement’, and well known as a designer of tiles and other items through his partnership with William de Morgan. He was a leading light in the Art Workers’ Guild and as Head of Architecture at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, he tutored numerous young architects including – in 1904 – nineteen year old MacDonald ‘Max’ Gill. Understanding Ricardo’s views on architecture and the crafts, helps us to understand how Max’s own ideas developed in those early years, including an early love of glazed bricks, used by Ricardo to such brilliant effect on ‘Debenham House’. A chapter in the book is devoted to the development of a model farm and village on Debenham’s Dorset Estate (see right) for which Ricardo was 
lead architect and Max was architect-in-residence during WW1. Max became a family friend and for some time courted Ricardo’s younger daughter Esther. Not mentioned in the book is the fact that Ricardo’s elder daughter Anna, who had trained at the Slade, assisted Max on several mural projects. The author, Ricardo’s great-grandson, has drawn on family zcorrespondence and many other sources to paint an insightful picture of an important and – until now – neglected figure of the Arts & Crafts movement.
https://www.lundhumphries.com/collections/architects-and-interior-designers/products/halsey-ricardo
Thanks for reading and enjoy your summer!
