Section of nursery wallpaper frieze showing children playing, 'Sheet No. 4', lithograph on paper, John Hassall for Liberty, England, about 1900

One of a set of nursery wallpaper friezes showing a line of children on a brown field with stylised trees, moving towards the left, pulling or carrying toys. Two children are depicted on this frieze. The lead child, a boy, is dressed in matching roll-neck jumper, shorts and long socks, and is facing toward the toy he is pulling: a large wheeled locomotive. The boy behind pushes a large wheeled elephant toy, upon which rides a 'Golly' doll.

Given by Julia Cox

Given to the museum in 2019 by Julia Cox [2019/356]

The original golly was a central character in a series of books published between 1895 and 1909. Bertha Upton (1849–1912) wrote the books and her daughter, Florence Kate Upton (1873–1922), illustrated them. They based the character ‘Golliwogg’ (as it was originally spelled) on a doll Florence owned as a child growing up in 1880s America. The appearance and clothing of the doll (see B.493-1997) is based on the ‘blackface minstrel’ figure, a 19th-century racial caricature of African Americans. Blackface minstrel shows were performed by white actors and singers, who parodied African Americans by darkening their skins with shoe polish or burnt cork. These portrayals perpetuated many negative stereotypes and were steeped in racism. The shows originated in the USA, with the first widely known blackface character, ‘Jim Crow’, appearing around 1830. Soon after it became popular in the UK, which developed its own blackface traditions.

Florence moved to the UK in the 1890s, where the Uptons’ books became very popular. Their Golliwogg character was not copyrighted, allowing multiple representations of the golly to enter the public domain. The character featured in British toys, games, textiles, ceramics and children’s books, and was used as a mascot by the food manufacturer, Robertson’s, from about 1910. From the 1980s the character’s popularity began to wane as campaigners fought against the racist stereotypes that the golly represented. Robertson’s continued to promote the figure as part of a British ‘national tradition’ until 2001, when they stopped using the golly in their branding.

Six of the original design drawings for this series are also held by the museum (see B.1 to 6-2014)

‘The object is to place before children such pictures as are well drawn and well coloured and thus training the eye in infancy to discriminate and enjoy artistic work.’
Liberty Bazaar, 1898

These wallpaper friezes were produced by British illustrator and poster designer John Hassall for Liberty & Co. around the turn of the twentieth century, a time when designing for children’s nurseries was very fashionable. They were part of a wider collaboration between Hassall and fellow artist Cecil Aldin, ‘Art for the Nursery’, which was aimed at making the appearance of children's rooms more attractive. This resulted in the Pictures for Children exhibition at The Fine Art Society in 1900.

The papers are lithographs printed by Jellico and Co. to be fixed directly to the walls of children's nurseries.

B.11-2019