Drawing
1917 (drawn)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Caricature of Bert Williams 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.
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 performer Bert Williams, 1917, by George Cooke. |
| Physical description | Pen, ink, watercolour and bodycolour caricature of the head of the music hall performer Bert Williams, seen against a rectangle of swirly pattern, with another image of him behind the pattern, and eleven billiard balls below. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | Caricature of Bert Williams 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.395:33-2002 |
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| Record created | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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