Link to website devoted to Captain Bruce Bairnsfather
WWI era china dish featuring Bruce Bairnsfather cartoon
c. 1919WWI era bone china dish with a flat base and raised edges featuring a circular transferred print of a Bruce Bairnsfather cartoon in sepia tones in the centre of a cream background and black border.
It depicts a British soldier on the Western Front during World War One, pipe in mouth, dipping bread into a pot of plum and apple jam. The comment written below reads "When the 'ell is it going to be strawberry?" This is apparently a reference to the lack of variety of jam available at the front.
Around the raised border in similar brown tones are military motifs including a water bottle, a mess tin, a bucket, a tin of plum and apple jam, a British helmet, an empty food packet being eaten by a rodent, and a German pickelhaube helmet, with tufts of vegetation between each image.The external rim is painted in gold.
The reverse shows the maker's details including a cartoon depiction of 'Old Bill' - Bairnsfather's most famous character. It also lists the important dates relating to World War One - Commencement, Armistice and the Signing of Peace.
According to the Australian War Memorial, cartoons by English serviceman Bruce Bairnsfather reached their height of popularity towards the end of the First World War. His definitive down-trodden but happily defiant 'Old Bill' character quickly became a favourite.
To cater to the public demand for his Western Front cartoons, many companies vied for licences to reproduce his work on a variety of media. Grimwade Pottery of Stoke-on-Trent (later Royal Winton) was successful in securing an agreement in 1917 and commenced producing cheap and cheerful transferware examples of Bairnsfather's cartoons on a wide selection of their wares. Grimwade's was able to ride Bairnsfather's wave of popularity well into the mid 1920s before war-weariness overtook the public. The cartoon reproduced on this cup is typical of the grim humour employed by Bairnsfather.
There are several items relating to 'Old Bill' in the collection including cartoon books, postcards and a boxed cardboard/papier mache figurine.
Details
Details
On front of dish:
"WHEN THE 'ELL IS IT GOING TO BE STRAWBERRY/"
On reverse of dish:
"A SOUVENIR OF
THE
GREAT WAR
"COMMENCED AUG 4TH 1914
ARMISTICE NOV 11TH 1918
PEACE SIGNED JUNE 28TH 1919"
Bairnsfatherware
GRIMWADE'S
STOKE ON TRENT
'Old Bill'
4281"
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Other items from Recollections of War
- 'The Bystander's' magazine 'Fragments from France' Volume 1 by Bruce Bairnsfather
- 'The Bystander's' magazine 'Fragments from France' Volume 2 by Bruce Bairnsfather
- 'The Bystander's' magazine 'Fragments from France' Volume 3 by Bruce Bairnsfather
- 'The Bystander's' magazine 'Fragments from France' Volume 4 by Bruce Bairnsfather
- 'The Bystander's' magazine 'Fragments from France' Volume 5 by Bruce Bairnsfather
- 'The Bystander's' magazine 'Fragments from France' Volume 6 by Bruce Bairnsfather
- Bruce Bairnsfather 'Old Bill' moulded fibre figurine in original box
- Peace Beaker celebrating the end of the Great War - large
- Peace Beaker celebrating the end of the Great War - Jarrow
- WWI era patriotic bone china tankard
- Peace Cup celebrating the end of the Great War
- WWI era patriotic bone china cup and saucer - 1914
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