“Blood of the Nation” is an original piece of artwork now available as a Limited Edition Giclee Print of just 10 framed 607 x 514mm (unframed 457 x 364 mm) created by Ian Mackenzie.
 
This artwork is framed in a traditional 2.5 inch black wooden surround with a light coloured insert. It comes with a Certificate of Authenticity which is signed and verified by the artist.
 
Available as:
 
Original Oil on Canvas                                                       SOLD
 
The Story Behind "Blood of the Nation" 
 
Two hundred men stopped their bartering and stared in silence as the quill was dipped in the inkwell and slowly made to etch history with the words ‘one million pounds’. 
 
A signature sealed the deal and the trading floor of the Coal Exchange erupted. They had just witnessed the world’s largest ever cheque to be written, and a vast quantity of Welsh coal had been sold to the French. 
 
It was 1904, and the heartland of Cardiff Bay was alive. Coal was being mined and transported from the South Wales Valleys south to the richest dockland of the time. Families were fed, communities thrived, and the country prospered. But how long would it last?
 
In researching this event, it became apparent that there was no official record of this actual cheque, and therefore nothing to accurately copy. I found the bank and certain other details. However, the story was incomplete. As an artist, this brought a smile to my face and the devil in me started to fill in the gaps.
 
If you look closely at the number of the cheque, this is a six-digit figure. Having carried a three-figure number in my thirty-year police career, it was only fitting that the cheque became my South Wales Police collar number. Furthermore, with no official date in 1904 to pin the signing of the cheque to, this date and month became my birth date. Not the year I must add. 
 
And finally, with no record of who signed the cheque, it was only fitting that the creator of the artwork should sign it himself! 
 
Ian Mackenzie