Stage property fish, made of hessian and filled with sawdust stuffing, late 19th century. The fish is decorated with swirls and lines of metallic silver, dark brown and red paint.

This stage property was used by the comedian Harry Tate. Tate (1872-1940) was born Ronald McDonald Hutchinson and assumed his stage name from the company, Henry Tate & Sons, Sugar Refiners, for which he worked before becoming a professional performer. He first appeared as Tate at the Oxford Music-Hall on 13 April 1895, his early act consisting of sketches in which he mimicked music-hall stars of the day, using clip-on paper costumes to allow as many as forty-two changes in one act. He went on to develop various sketches based on middle-class leisure pursuits such as fishing, golfing and gardening which he performed with a small company.