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SAVOYV6_icon4_may_holiday

This image is the frontispiece to volume 6. The halftone reproduction of a water-colour drawing is in landscape orientation, with a rectangular outline around the illustration. In the bottom right of the image is the artist’s signature, “Phil May”; the tail of the “y” hooks underneath the signature to the left to touch the bottom of the page. The date “1883” is written directly below the signature. The image consists of six figures forming a procession from left to right, in descending order of height. In this sequence they appear as follows: a woman, a man, a girl, a boy, a girl, and finally a toddler. They could be a family, and although the background is empty, they appear to be on a beach or seaside. The woman’s body faces to the left; her face is turned to the viewer but her eyes are closed and she is frowning. She has black hair under a plumed hat tied down around the sides of her face into a bow around her neck. She is wearing an overcoat that extends down her legs, and her skirts extend below even further, almost grazing the floor. In her right hand she holds an open parasol with ruffles along its edges. Her left elbow is tucked against her waist, and she holds a small purse in front of her in her left hand. The man stands directly behind her, also facing to the left; his head is turned towards the viewer but tilted down to the ground slightly. His mouth is slightly downturned, and his eyes are open wide with visible bags underneath them. He wears a tall top hat with a comparatively narrow brim, the top half of the hat is light in colour while the rest is dark. He has black hair jutting out from under the hat and he has thick mutton chop sideburns. He is wearing a light shirt tucked into checkered pants. He has on a large and unbuttoned dark overcoat which extends down to his knees. His shoes are light in colour and have buckles on them. Under is right arm he holds a rectangular bag or parcel, and in his right hand he holds a similar bag although it is larger in comparison. Under his right arm he also holds a cane with a hooked handle which extends behind him and a shovel or spade, whose handle is poking out above the parcel under his arm. Under his left arm he holds a closed dark umbrella. The oldest child is pulling with her right hand on the ends of the man’s coat. Her body is turned to the viewer, and she is looking up at the man. The girl is wearing a brimmed hat (boater) covering her fair hair underneath. She has on a dark long sleeved shirt with a ruffled white collar. The girl is wearing a skirt with a single dark stripe running horizontally across it, she wears dark stockings and dark shoes. Her left arm pulls at the elbow of the next child in the line, a boy who looks slightly her junior. He is wearing a wide brimmed hat or straw boater with two ribbons streaming off of the top; he is also blonde or fair-haired. He is wearing a sailor suit, with a pull-over middy blouse in the tradition “V” shape and a billowing white dress shirt. The boy’s shirt is tucked into light pants and he has on plain light trousers and dark dress shoes. In his right hand he holds a sand pail. He is facing to the right of the page and pouting. His right arm is extended and he is pulling on the hair of the next girl in line. She has a pained expression on her face. She is raising a shovel above her head in her right hand. The shovel is extended back behind her to the right and just beyond it there is a brimmed boater hat falling through the air. The girl is wearing white socks and black slippers and a bathing dress with a ruffled collar and wide sash at the waist of a flounced skirt. Her left arm is stretched out and she is pulling on the hand of the youngest child, a toddler. The toddler is reaching out with their left arm and leg towards a sand pail which lies on its side on the right edge of the illustration and appears to be crying. The toddler is wearing a bonnet, white socks and black slippers, and a black bathing dress with a ruffled white collar and wide sash.