Please Pass The Relish Tray

Ecstatic Celery. Two words that only Edward Gorey would think to join together in a title, but wait...there is more. Figbash has entered, delightedly dancing while juggling stalks of celery. Above the flying stalks are the words, Title? Title! Title? During the mid-1990's Edward Gorey's consuming creative passion was his theatrical entertainments and this appears to be an idea for a show title or button design that was not expanded upon.

I recently acquired this charming pencil sketch because it struck me how clearly it shows Edward Gorey's great affection for his character Figbash. Everything about this simple drawing is joyous. Figbash's leaping pose with an upturned head is buoyant and happy. The unanswered question is - Is this a stop motion pose showing Figbash's arms akimbo, or is this actually a three-armed Figbash? 

The date in the lower right corner started as 12.X.94 but was changed to 13.X.94. Presumably, while concentrating on the layout of the sketch Mr. Gorey forgot the date but then corrected himself. He also presumably needed to remind himself to be somewhere or do something at 7:00 as the time in the upper left hand corner is underlined several times.