Not on display

Print Collection

Scrap
ca.1890 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Scraps first appeared in the early 19th century as black and white engravings, and were later coloured by hand. By the 1820s they had become more elaborate and sometimes embossed, and within a decade both the printing and embossing processes were automated. They were colour printed by chromolithography, and coated with a gelatine and gum layer to give them a gloss finish. After being embossed they were die-cut and put through a stamping press to cut away the unwanted areas of paper, leaving the individual images connected by small strips, often bearing the name or initials of the maker.

Scraps became extremely popular in Victorian England to be cut out by adults or children and stuck into albums, on to screens, or used for decorating greetings cards. This is one of a series of scraps featuring portraits of contemporary theatrical 'types'. It depicts the 'man about town' music hall character, sometimes called the 'swell', this one sporting a fashionable type of moustache made popular in London in the 1860s and 1870s by Edward Southern who played a character called Dundreary who had whiskers like these. in the play Our American Cousin,

Object details

Category
Object type
TitlePrint Collection (named collection)
Materials and techniques
Printed paper
Brief description
Printed paper scrap depicting a musical hall performer or 'swell', entitled Music Hall Topical. Colour lithograph printed by Siegmund Hildesheimer & Co., ca.1890.
Physical description
Full-colour paper scrap depicting the head of a young man or 'swell' with a grey 'Dundreary' moustache, wearing a white bow tie, a monocle in his right eye, a black top hat, blue gloves, holding a cane to his face. Titled 'Music Hall Topical'.
Dimensions
  • Irregular height: 5.6cm
  • Irregular width: 2.7cm
Credit line
Given by the British Theatre Museum Association
Summary
Scraps first appeared in the early 19th century as black and white engravings, and were later coloured by hand. By the 1820s they had become more elaborate and sometimes embossed, and within a decade both the printing and embossing processes were automated. They were colour printed by chromolithography, and coated with a gelatine and gum layer to give them a gloss finish. After being embossed they were die-cut and put through a stamping press to cut away the unwanted areas of paper, leaving the individual images connected by small strips, often bearing the name or initials of the maker.

Scraps became extremely popular in Victorian England to be cut out by adults or children and stuck into albums, on to screens, or used for decorating greetings cards. This is one of a series of scraps featuring portraits of contemporary theatrical 'types'. It depicts the 'man about town' music hall character, sometimes called the 'swell', this one sporting a fashionable type of moustache made popular in London in the 1860s and 1870s by Edward Southern who played a character called Dundreary who had whiskers like these. in the play Our American Cousin,
Associated objects
Other number
1963/G/53 - BTMA accession number
Collection
Accession number
S.4:11-2008

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdJuly 1, 2009
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest