A drypoint etching of the artist’s older brother, Captain Sir David W Bone. (1874-1959) The back of the armchair is deeply shaded on the right, and the front of Bone’s shirt and his tie are defined in dark, sketched lines, suggesting their presence. Bone’s face is rendered in detail. Shown in three-quarter profile, Bone meets the gaze of the viewer. An author as well as a captain in the merchant navy, Bone received the coronation medal from the King in 1937.

Born in Glasgow, Muirhead Bone (1876-1953) was a prominent London based printmaker and an official war artist in both the First and Second World Wars. Bone began practicing printmaking in the 1890s and moved to London in 1901.