New Year Table Poster

New Year Table is drawn in one red line across a wide cream sheet, and the table it describes is seen from slightly above. A roast sits on an oval dish at the left, surrounded by glasses, a bottle, a vase of fir branches with baubles hanging from it, candles, a wrapped present and plates of small things that are left to the eye to name. The cloth falls in two straight lines at the front, which is all the drawing gives you of the room. To the right the words MERRY CHRISTMAS and happy new year are written by hand, the second line smaller and more relaxed than the first. The empty half of the sheet is as much of the composition as the drawing.

The format is wide, so it suits the space above a sideboard, a bench or a dining table better than a narrow wall. Light oak keeps the cream warm and black turns the red line graphic. It is a kitchen and dining room piece first, and it holds its own next to an open shelf of glass and ceramics. Hang it low enough that the handwriting can be read from the table.