Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level D , Case DR, Shelf 142

'This is little Chromium, Auntie, but don't disturb him, he's having his hour's recreation'

Drawing
1934
Artist/Maker
Laidler, Graham ('Pont') (artist)

Drawing showing a child, 'little chromium' playing with bricks at a table, illuminated by a beam of light. Two women - the child's mother and 'auntie' stand just within the door. A rocking horse made of tubular metal is against far wall.


Object details

Categories
ELISE
Designs
Object type
Drawing
Title'This is little Chromium, Auntie, but don't disturb him, he's having his hour's recreation'
Materials and techniques
pen and ink
Ink
Paper
Brief description
Drawing, 'This is little Chromium ...', 'Pont', 1934
Physical description
Drawing showing a child, 'little chromium' playing with bricks at a table, illuminated by a beam of light. Two women - the child's mother and 'auntie' stand just within the door. A rocking horse made of tubular metal is against far wall.
Historical context
'Pont's witty drawings in 'Punch' in the 1930s have come to be recognized as masterly satiric observations of British national characteristics. Here the humour is directed at Modernism, and at tubular steel furniture in particular, which is even transformed into a rocking horse. 'Sun ray' lamps pour health-giving ultra-violet rays on poor Little Chromium who, protected by his sunglasses, plays with 'educational' bricks. The carpet and wallpaper are an ABC of the Modern; G for gyroscope, R for radio and Z for zip. Mother in her smart tailored slacks, with their zipped-up pockets, shows off the Wunderkind to a leather-clad Auntie who has clearly just dismounted from a motorcyle.
Subjects depicted
Avant-Garde
Boy
Mothers
Rocking Horses
Toys
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.331-1986

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Record createdFebruary 7, 2000
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O22777/this-is-little-chromium-auntie-drawing-laidler-graham-pont/
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