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MG Jack and Jill
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Mother Goose Series -- "Jack and Jill" by John McClelland.
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$45.50
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| Mother Goose Series -- "Jack and Jill" by John McClelland.
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Mother Goose Series -- "Jack and Jill" by John McClelland. Eighth issue in the series.
By Reco International 1986. Plate size approx 8.5 inches. Suggested Retail $65.00.
Mother has sent Jack and Jill out to fetch a pail of water. . . but spring is in the air! Along the way they've plucked fistfuls of bright flowers and woven a daisy chain for Jill; rolled down the hill and chased butterflies. They've done everything, in fact, but get Mother's water. Now, suddenly realizing that they are late and Mother is waiting impatiently, Jack and Jill clasp hands and begin to scramble up fowards the well. But their haste leads only to a tumble, a bruise for Jack–and no water.
The story of Jack and Jill and their ill-fated climb is as much a part of our collective childhood memories as dolls and blocks and bedtime stories. No doubt artist John McClelland himself listened to this rhyme as a youngster snuggling in his mother's lap. Perhaps he, like other children before and since, puzzled over the cause of Jack and Jill's fall, and in "Jack and Jill," eighth issue in his Mother Goose series, he provides a very satisfactory answer. With the confident hand of a master, and his rare insight into the hearts and minds of children, McClelland fleshes out this simple verse into a telling portrait of what being a child is all about. In doing so he awakens in each of us memories of being young and so caught up in the beauty of the moment that we forget the task at hand.
At its most basic level, "Jack and Jill" is, quite simply, a feast for the eye. Who but John McClelland could paint a more beautiful day: suffused with cool blues and greens, lit with lavender and lemon yellows. And who but John McClelland could fashion a more charming pair of children: Jill, pretty in a white dress, her blond head crowned with a wreath of yellow and white flowers; Jack, crisply attired in overalls and a red bandana knotted about his neck. At the children's feet daisies and hollyhocks bloom among a verdant tangle of grass, and above their heads the sky is a cloudless blue. There is good reason for all this loveliness, of course; with nature so gloriously represented, we easily understand why Jack and Jill were distracted from such a mundane chore as fetching water.
Interestingly enough, McClelland chose not to depict Jack and Jill's classic tumble downhill, as other artists might. Because of that, we sense McClelland is not as concerned with being true to the nursery rhyme as he is with being true to the spirit of childhood. To be sure, he is most faithful to the tale: the pail is dutifully represented and his children make a delightful Jack and Jill. But rather than simply re-create what we all know happened, McClelland does something else altogether: he leads us on an affectionate exploration into the sensibilities of the very young.
McClelland introduces us to his children through the small, careful details that have become his trademark. That Jill has carried her doll all this way reveals a warm and gentle heart; despite the day's antics, the doll's white apron is still spotless! That Jack clutches a somewhat limp bouquet of flowers – a peace offering for Mother, no doubt–demonstrates thoughtfulness and a sense of responsibility.
Through these little character sketches McClelland seems to suggest there was no willful disobedience on the part of these youngsters. Like children everywhere, they were simply too busy looking about them to watch where they were going as they scurried up the hill. In fact, we can even imagine Jack and Jill later pleading their case with their distressed parent: "But Mother, we didn't mean to forget. It was just that the flowers were so pretty and the sun was so warm."
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