A still life by Mary Fedden, 'The Etching Table' depicts printmaking tools and materials with a distinctive use of colour and simplified forms.

Mary Fedden (1915-2012) was a British artist known for her colourful and distinctive still-life paintings. She studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London and later taught at the Royal College of Art, influencing a generation of British painters. Her work often features arrangements of everyday objects, rendered with a sense of playful abstraction and a keen eye for colour relationships. 'The Etching Table' presents a collection of items associated with the printmaking process. Bottles, brushes, and a container labelled 'Glow-Rit' are arranged on a table against a dark background. The composition is balanced, with the objects carefully placed to create a sense of depth and visual interest. Fedden's use of colour is particularly striking, with the muted tones of the objects contrasting against the dark background. The painting has a slightly naive quality, with simplified forms and a lack of precise detail. This adds to its charm and gives it a unique character.