The Collector of Kings Long Past

by Matthew Spencer

The esoteric burial rites and the tradition of preserving the remains of Kings of the Emerald Court have proven mysterious enough that the Curator of the Royal Catacombs has become a figure of children’s ghost stories. While her occupation is noble enough, and she is a kindly individual, children far and wide tell fireside tales of “The Collector” who’ll ‘steal your bones’ and make them into beautiful trinkets for her endless subterranean shelves.

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Inspired by the telling of tall tales and the transformation of the mundane into the mythic, by saintly relics, classic spooky-season palettes, and by constant reminders that all things end.

Painted in watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil on 140lb Arches hot press paper.

The artwork is matted in grey and framed in a hand-painted, hand weathered wooden frame.

Product Surface / Material: 140lb
Product Surface / Material: Arches Hotpress Watercolor Paper
Product Framed size: 17" x 14"
Artwork Size: 11" x 14"

$625 $625

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Matthew Spencer

Matthew Spencer is a queer illustrator from southeast Michigan.

He works primarily in ink, watercolor and gouache (often embellished with metal leaf), creating pieces inspired by folklore, history, and nature.

Outside of his freelance work, he has been slowly but surely been illustrating his own tarot deck. The Courtly Beasts Tarot- along with a good deal of Matthew’s other personal work- depicts a fantastical world populated by anthropomorphic animals in elaborate costume, set within lush environments both botanical and architectural.