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Caricature
Cooke, George - Enlarge image
Caricature
- Date:
14 September 1904 (drawn)
- Artist/Maker:
Cooke, George (artist)
- Materials and Techniques:
Pen and ink and wash on paper
- Museum number:
S.392:15-2002
- Gallery location:
In Storage
This caricature is of the singer Mark Sheridan when he was performing at the Grand Theatre of Varieties, Hanley, during the week of 12 September 1904. He was billed as ‘London’s Favourite Comedy Vocalist’. It is one of the many superb caricatures of Edwardian music hall performers that were drawn by the artist George Cooke and compiled in a series of albums.
Born Fred Shaw in County Durham in 1867, Sheridan first appeared in northern music halls with a partner as ‘The Sheridans’. In 1892 he toured in Australia as a solo turn. By 1900 he was well known in London music halls as a singer of chorus songs. These included ‘I Do Like To Be Beside the Seaside’ and ‘Who Were You With Last Night?’, which he conducted from the stage with his umbrella. His characteristic costume consisted of a tight frock-coat, a stove-pipe hat, bell-bottomed trousers and the ubiquitous umbrella. He appeared in pantomime, and during the First World War toured music halls with his own burlesque company. He committed suicide in 1918, after suffering from depression.
