Not on display

Drawing

1910 (drawn)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Caricature of Ernie Mayne from the fourth album that the commercial artist George Cooke used for his caricatures of music hall and variety performers. The album 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 and wash and gouache on paper
Brief description
Caricature of the performer Ernie Mayne, 1914, by George Cooke.
Physical description
Pen, ink and wash caricature of the music hall performer Ernie Mayne, full-length, holding a staff in his left hand, and wearing a ranger or boy scout uniform.
Dimensions
  • Height: 26cm
  • Width: 19.4cm
Marks and inscriptions
'Yours Simply / Ernie Mayne / 1910.' (Written in ink on front of page.)
Subject depicted
Summary
Caricature of Ernie Mayne from the fourth album that the commercial artist George Cooke used for his caricatures of music hall and variety performers. The album 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.395:28-2002

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
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