JONES, Vivian Massie Doyle

1888 - 1932

As Vivian Massie Gribble, she was born at Chelsea, London in 1888, third of the six children of George James Gribble (15 July 1847-16 June 1927), a Manchester & general warehouseman, and his wife, artist Norah Royds (5 April 1859-8 March 1923), daughter of Revd Frances Coulman Royds, who married at Coddington Parish Church, Chester on 27 July 1881, George Gribble left over £300,000 at his death in 1927. Vivian was educated privately and studied in Munich and at the Slade School of Fine Art and the Central School of Arts and Crafts under Noel Rooke (1881-1953), and clearly made an early impression on her teachers as in 1912, the year that Rooke began teaching wood engraving there, Gribble was commissioned to produce five wood engravings for an edition of 'Three Psalms' designed by John Henry Mason (c.1875-26 February 1951). In 1916, Mason was impressed enough to ask her to produce 12 wood engravings for an edition of 'Cupid and Psyche' by Apuleius which did not appear until 1935. In 1919, Gribble was asked to contribute three wood engravings to 'Change 2', a small format magazine that reflected the zeitgeist of the period; in the same year Malcolm Salaman (1855-1940) included her wood engravings in his Studio anthology. In 1911, Vivian was a 22-year-old living at Biddlesden House, near Andover, Wiltshire with her parents, 64-year-old George and 51-year-old Norah with three siblings, Norah Legrand 25, Philip Legrand 19 and Julian Royds 14, and they retained nine indoor servants. During the First World War, Vivian joined the Land Army and her brother Julian, who won the V.C., died of influenza just before the end of the war and Vivian designed a memorial window for him. Vivian married at St Michael's Church, Chester Square, London on 20 December 1919, Douglas Doyle Jones and they set up home at Higham, near Hadleigh, Suffolk. After several miscarriages, the couple adopted a daughter Daphne Christobel (15 July 1927-16 February 2008). Vivian was a member of the Ipswich Fine Art Club 1923-1924, from Valley Farm, Higham, Suffolk, but does not seem to have exhibited, she had a restless temperament, tending to lose interest in projects when her initial wish was gratified. She exhibited in the second exhibition of the Society of Wood Engravers in 1921 and continued to do so until 1925. Gribble worked with Thomas Balston (1883-1967) to produce three books in a luxurious format, the first was an edition of 380 signed copies of 'Sixe Idillia' by Theocritus, printed at the Cloister Press under the supervision of Stanley Morison. This was followed in 1923 by 'Odes' by John Keats in an edition of 170 signed copies and in 1924, an edition of 150 signed copies of 'Songs from 'The Princess' by Tennyson. Her final commission was in 1926 when MacMillan published an edition of 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles' by Thomas Hardy with 41 wood engravings by Gribble. Vivian Massie Jones died of cancer at Higham on 6 February 1932, aged 43. Her work is represented in several national collections, the British Museum, the Central School and the Fitzwilliam Museum. She signed her work 'Vivien Gribble'.

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Works by This Artist