A Gentleman of Letters
The family of Dublin signwriter Kevin Freeney (1919-1986) have recently posted a fascinating collection of photographs of his work. Check them out on Flickr here.
“Signwriting goes back at least three generations in his family. Back in the 1930′s he rambled through Dublin’s streets on a bike or with a pushcart carrying his paints and brushes. In that period the city’s streetscapes were elegantly embroidered with handwritten shop and pub fascias. Having done ‘at least 700 pubs and shopfronts’ in Dublin, the most famed streets -O’Connell, Henry, Grafton, and Capel- all carried his personalised three-dimensional relief lettering and ornamentation. His fellow craftsmen hailed him as a “Master” - Dublin Street Life & Lore by Kevin C. Kearns.
May 26th, 2009 19:21
Brilliant photoset. Thanks for posting. Love those vans…
May 26th, 2009 22:28
what a lovely review of a lost art!
May 27th, 2009 10:58
what an excellent document! thanks Stephen!
May 27th, 2009 12:58
Those photos are wonderful!
June 2nd, 2009 14:21
Thia is such a great collection! thanks for posting them.
June 8th, 2009 11:50
Wonderfull Collection of Photographs …
quite an ouevre ( did I spell that correctly )
of Work as well … I hope Hand painted signs never die !