Not currently on display at the V&A

Caricature

April 1907 (drawn)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This caricature is of The Boisset Brothers performing their ‘Bricklayers’ sketch at the Grand Theatre of Varieties, Hanley, during the week of 1 April 1907. It is one of the many superb caricatures of Edwardian music hall performers that were drawn by the artist George Cooke and compiled in a series of albums.

F. Boisset Junior and Albert Boisset performed sketches or short plays in music halls from the 1870s to the early 1900s. They specialised in broad, slapstick humour. All the laughs in ‘The Bricklayers’ came from the practical jokes that the bricklayers play on each other, on passers-by and the police who come to arrest them. ‘The Bricklayers’ and ‘Evening Party’ were two of their best-known sketches. They were on the programme again at the Grand in the following week in April 1907, with their ‘successful absurdity’, ‘The Wild West’.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Pen and ink and wash on paper
Brief description
Caricature of the music hall sketch performers The Boisset Brothers, F. and Albert Boisset (fl.1870s-1900s) as The Bricklayers, from an album of caricatures drawn by George Cooke. April 1907.
Physical description
Pen, ink and wash caricature on pink paper of the Boissett Brothers, full-length, as workmen. F. Boissett Jnr. (left) is bearded and wears a checked cap, a brown corduroy waistcoat, tan corduroy trousers tied at the knees, a white shirt and red spotted kerchief. Albert Boissett (right) is clean-shaven, wearing a large brown floppy hat, a brown corduroy sleeveless jacket; corduroy trousers tied at the knees, a blue checked shirt and a red spotted kerchief. He is brandishing a shovel in his left hand.
Dimensions
  • Height: 25cm
  • Width: 16.8cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • THE BRICKLAYERS (Hand written; Pen and ink)
  • Yours tryly F. Boisset Jnr. Yours truly Albert Boisset (Hand written; Pencil)
Object history
This caricature is of the performers F. and Albert Boisset in their sketch 'The Bricklayers' which they were performing at the Grand Theatre of Varieties, Hanley, during the week of 1st April 1907. The Boisset Brothers worked in the music halls from the early 1870s to the early 1900s performing sketches, or short plays, including 'The Bricklayers' and 'The Evening Party'. This caricature comes from the second album of caricatures in a collection of albums owned by the Theatre Museum compiled by the graphic artist George Cooke. It is labelled by the artist 'Geo Cooke HYS BOOKE' and features music hall performers working in the early 20th century.
Summary
This caricature is of The Boisset Brothers performing their ‘Bricklayers’ sketch at the Grand Theatre of Varieties, Hanley, during the week of 1 April 1907. It is one of the many superb caricatures of Edwardian music hall performers that were drawn by the artist George Cooke and compiled in a series of albums.

F. Boisset Junior and Albert Boisset performed sketches or short plays in music halls from the 1870s to the early 1900s. They specialised in broad, slapstick humour. All the laughs in ‘The Bricklayers’ came from the practical jokes that the bricklayers play on each other, on passers-by and the police who come to arrest them. ‘The Bricklayers’ and ‘Evening Party’ were two of their best-known sketches. They were on the programme again at the Grand in the following week in April 1907, with their ‘successful absurdity’, ‘The Wild West’.
Collection
Accession number
S.393:42-2002

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Record createdNovember 25, 2003
Record URL
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