Probably dating to the early part of the 1930s, the present work is slightly unusual in that it moves completely away from Edward Burra’s usual subject matter for the period, the bars, clubs and haunts of the demi-monde that are such a distinctive feature of Burra’s work. Garden Ornaments with Flints is in many ways a precursor to Burra’s 1950s works, in which he turns away from the brutal and often grotesque figurative scenes that had occupied much of his early output, to explore the theatricality of the still life genre, in particular focusing on floral scenes. These richly coloured compositions, exploring the strangeness of the everyday that so captivated the artist, proved financially viable, selling consistently well through his London dealers. They were bright, bountiful and full of the hope that so abounded in London in the early 1950s. They suited an audience that had had its fill of the horrors and brutal atrocities that had only really emerged following the liberation of occupied Europe, yet allowed Burra a vehicle through which he could explore further the wild and disturbing narratives that had occupied him previously.

In the present work, we find ourselves in a slightly neglected corner of a garden, a dry ornamental fountain basin taking up the centre space of the painting. The abandoned feel of the fountain, with its rocaille basin above the pile of bone-like flints, immediately draws the attention of the viewer and perhaps should merit a parallel with the contemporary images of lost gardens by Stanley Spencer.

Assuming that the dating to the early 1930s is correct, and the handling and palette are consistent with this, then it may be apposite to compare the present work with the rococo fountain found in the centre of the design for a backcloth Burra produced in 1931 for Constant Lambert’s ballet Rio Grande, based on the poem of the same name by Sacheverell Sitwell.