Caricature
March 1916 (drawn)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Caricature of Fred Bluett from the fourth album that the commercial artist George Cooke used for his caricatures of music hall and variety performers.
It contains caricatures drawn from 1910 to 1919. Originally from Yorkshire, George Cooke specialised in designing illustrated publicity material for performers. These included flyers, letterheads, posters and newspaper advertisements. He was based at the Grand Theatre for several years. The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in 1894. Cooke later moved to Blackpool, where he drew performers at the Palace Theatre.
By 1917 Cooke appears to have moved to London, where he established Cooke’s Publicity Agency at 453 The Strand. We know that he had considered a move to London for some time, since in May 1906, when he was still in Hanley, a note from him was printed in the variety artistes’ magazine The Performer. It read:
Phil Ray says my work’s too good for Hanley; I ought to be in London. But I want money to start with. Who’ll give me some! Griff can’t afford now he’s two families to keep. But he wishes me luck. Many thanks, old friend. GEORGE COOKE, Caricaturist, Hanley.
Phil Ray and Griff were both performers whose caricatures feature in Cooke’s albums.
It contains caricatures drawn from 1910 to 1919. Originally from Yorkshire, George Cooke specialised in designing illustrated publicity material for performers. These included flyers, letterheads, posters and newspaper advertisements. He was based at the Grand Theatre for several years. The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in 1894. Cooke later moved to Blackpool, where he drew performers at the Palace Theatre.
By 1917 Cooke appears to have moved to London, where he established Cooke’s Publicity Agency at 453 The Strand. We know that he had considered a move to London for some time, since in May 1906, when he was still in Hanley, a note from him was printed in the variety artistes’ magazine The Performer. It read:
Phil Ray says my work’s too good for Hanley; I ought to be in London. But I want money to start with. Who’ll give me some! Griff can’t afford now he’s two families to keep. But he wishes me luck. Many thanks, old friend. GEORGE COOKE, Caricaturist, Hanley.
Phil Ray and Griff were both performers whose caricatures feature in Cooke’s albums.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Pen, ink, wash and gouache on paper. |
| Brief description | Caricature of the music hall performer Fred Bluett, March 1916, by George Cooke. |
| Physical description | Pen, ink, wash and gouache caricature of the head of the music hall performer Fred Bluett, dressed in a schoolboy's blue and white cap, a full-length silhouette portrait in the bottom left-hand corner. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | 'Faithfully / Yours / Fred Bluett / 22-3-16' (Written in ink on front of page.) |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | Caricature of Fred Bluett from the fourth album that the commercial artist George Cooke used for his caricatures of music hall and variety performers. It contains caricatures drawn from 1910 to 1919. Originally from Yorkshire, George Cooke specialised in designing illustrated publicity material for performers. These included flyers, letterheads, posters and newspaper advertisements. He was based at the Grand Theatre for several years. The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in 1894. Cooke later moved to Blackpool, where he drew performers at the Palace Theatre. By 1917 Cooke appears to have moved to London, where he established Cooke’s Publicity Agency at 453 The Strand. We know that he had considered a move to London for some time, since in May 1906, when he was still in Hanley, a note from him was printed in the variety artistes’ magazine The Performer. It read: Phil Ray says my work’s too good for Hanley; I ought to be in London. But I want money to start with. Who’ll give me some! Griff can’t afford now he’s two families to keep. But he wishes me luck. Many thanks, old friend. GEORGE COOKE, Caricaturist, Hanley. Phil Ray and Griff were both performers whose caricatures feature in Cooke’s albums. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.395:7-2002 |
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| Record created | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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