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Asking for trouble

Poster
ca.1940s (made)
Artist/Maker
Loxley Bros. Ltd. (printers)
Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (publishers)
Ministry of Labour and National Service (issued by)
Eckersley, Tom (OBE) (designer)
Place of origin
London (published)

Poster encouraging safety at work depicting a length of metal rope stretched taut. The central section has been highlighted with a magnifying glass, revealing a broken strand. At the top of the poster is the slogan in large black and blue letters, ‘Broken strands’, and below the image, in black, ‘torn hands’, and in blue ‘watch out for needling’. The artist has signed himself, 'Eckersley' along the lower edge of the cable.

Object details

Categories
Prints
Propaganda
Health
Posters
Object type
Poster
TitleAsking for trouble (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Colour lithograph
Lithographic Ink
Paper
Lithography
Brief description
Safety at work poster produced by RoSPA, designed by Tom Eckersley, and printed by Loxley Bros. Ltd, United Kingdom, 1940s
Physical description
Poster encouraging safety at work depicting a length of metal rope stretched taut. The central section has been highlighted with a magnifying glass, revealing a broken strand. At the top of the poster is the slogan in large black and blue letters, ‘Broken strands’, and below the image, in black, ‘torn hands’, and in blue ‘watch out for needling’. The artist has signed himself, 'Eckersley' along the lower edge of the cable.
Dimensions
  • Height: 75.9cm
  • Width: 50.5cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'BROKEN STRANDS' (Printed in black ('broken') and blue ('strands'), above the image)
  • 'TORN HANDS / WATCH OUT FOR NEEDLING' (Printed in black (first line) and blue (second line), below the image)
  • 'MLK/110' (The issue number is printed in the lower left-hand corner, next to the Society's symbol, a cog and a triangle)
  • 'Issued by the Ministry of Labour and National Service and produced by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, Terminal House, 52 Grosvenor Gardens, London S.W.1 / Printed by LOXLEY BROS. LTD.' (Printing and publishing information, printed at the bottom of the poster)
  • 'ECKERSLEY' (Artist's signature, along the edge of the cable)
Credit line
Gift of the American Friends of the V&A; Gift to the American Friends by Leslie, Judith and Gabri Schreyer and Alice Schreyer Batko
Subjects depicted
Health
Safety
Prevention
Accident
Industry
Ropes
Cables
Magnifying Glass
Associated object
E.258-2004 (Duplicate)
Other number
LS.1982 - Leslie Schreyer Loan Number
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.1873-2004

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Record createdMay 3, 2006
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O123596/asking-for-trouble-poster-eckersley-tom-obe/
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