Not currently on display at the V&A

D'Oyly Carte Opera Company staff and performers playing golf

Drawing
ca.1930 (drawn)
Artist/Maker

This cartoon, published in The Tatler ca.1930, depicts four members of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company's administrative staff playing golf with four members of the opera company. Richard Collet (1885-1946) was the business manager of the company from 1919 until his death in 1946; J.J. Jennings worked on advance publicity for the D'Oyly Carte Company in the early 1930s and the early 1950s; Stanley H. Parker, who owned this cartoon, worked for the company for 51 years, from 1909 until his death in 1960, and Frederick Hobbs was the company's business manager from 1927 until his death in 1942. They are shown in 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th century outfits respectively, while the performers Charles Goulding (1887-1939), Martyn Green (1889-1975), Darryl Fancourt (1886-1953) and Henry Lytton (1865-1936) are costumed as roles they played in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas - Charles Goulding as Ralph Rackstraw from H.M.S. Pinafore, Martyn Green as Robin Oakapple from Ruddigore, Darryl Fancourt as the Pirate King from The Pirates of Penzance, and Henry Lytton as Ko-Ko from The Mikado.

Tom Titt was the pseudonym of the Polish artist Jan Junosza de Rosciszewski (1885-1956), born in Warsaw, who came to England to study art at the Regent Street Polytechnic in 1907. His cartoons first appeared in 1911 in the British weekly magazine The New Age, and in 1930 he became the theatrical caricaturist for The Tatler, a post he held until 1948.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleD'Oyly Carte Opera Company staff and performers playing golf (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Pen and ink on Reeves Commercial Art Board
Brief description
Cartoon of the D'Oyly Carte Company staff and the D'Oyly Carte Company performers playing a golf match. Pen and ink by Tom Titt (Jan Stanislaw De Junosza Rosciezewski) (1885-1956) drawn for publication in The Tatler,ca.1930
Physical description
Pen and ink cartoon depicting four members of the D'Oyly Carte administrative staff in period dress standing on a golf course, with four perfomers from the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company watching the progress of a shot
Dimensions
  • Height: 53.2cm
  • Width: 38.0cm
Marks and inscriptions
Signatures recto of Richard Collet, J. Jennings, Stanley H. Parker, Frederick Hobbs, Charles Goulding, Martyn Green, Darrell Fancourt and Henry Lytton. Inscribed in ink vero: 'Tat 763 Mon 4.30. Rush.... to Mr. Jennings' (J.J. Jennings worked on advance publicity for the D'Oyly Carte Company in the 1930s. The note on the back of the cartoon refers to publication deadlines for The Tatler)
Credit line
Bequeathed by Peter Parker
Object history
This drawing was inherited by Peter Parker, who bequeathed it to the museum, from his father Stanley H. Parker (d.1960) who was employed by the Savoy Hotel as a junior clerk in May 1909, straight from school. From that job, on the death of Helen D'Oyly Carte in 1913, he was appointed by Rupert D'Oyly Carte to understudy George A. Richardson who managed the theatre from November 1911 to February 1915.

In 1913 Stanley H. Parker became Rupert and (later) Bridget D'Oyly Carte's private secretary, also secretary of both the Savoy Theatre Ltd., and the Opera Company. He worked for the company for 51 years, until his death in 1960.
Summary
This cartoon, published in The Tatler ca.1930, depicts four members of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company's administrative staff playing golf with four members of the opera company. Richard Collet (1885-1946) was the business manager of the company from 1919 until his death in 1946; J.J. Jennings worked on advance publicity for the D'Oyly Carte Company in the early 1930s and the early 1950s; Stanley H. Parker, who owned this cartoon, worked for the company for 51 years, from 1909 until his death in 1960, and Frederick Hobbs was the company's business manager from 1927 until his death in 1942. They are shown in 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th century outfits respectively, while the performers Charles Goulding (1887-1939), Martyn Green (1889-1975), Darryl Fancourt (1886-1953) and Henry Lytton (1865-1936) are costumed as roles they played in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas - Charles Goulding as Ralph Rackstraw from H.M.S. Pinafore, Martyn Green as Robin Oakapple from Ruddigore, Darryl Fancourt as the Pirate King from The Pirates of Penzance, and Henry Lytton as Ko-Ko from The Mikado.

Tom Titt was the pseudonym of the Polish artist Jan Junosza de Rosciszewski (1885-1956), born in Warsaw, who came to England to study art at the Regent Street Polytechnic in 1907. His cartoons first appeared in 1911 in the British weekly magazine The New Age, and in 1930 he became the theatrical caricaturist for The Tatler, a post he held until 1948.
Associated objects
Collection
Accession number
S.1046-2021

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Record createdSeptember 6, 2021
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