It's November 1947, and Henry Seabright sees his addition to a series called Old English Customs appear in the latest Sphere magazine. But this is no editorial; a tiny line of type under a description of Mumming Plays says 'One of a series of pictures specially painted for the Dunlop Rubber Company', next to an emblem of the Union Flag and a rubber tyre scrolled with 'As British As The Flag'. And that's it, most of the type area is this scrumptious picture of St.George challenging Slasher, whilst village folk look on outside (and inside) the pub where a recent thaw sees snow sliding from the roof. There's just so much going on here, prompting so many questions. Why is that bloke that looks like Rudyard Kipling in a black bowler hat doing running away by that green car in the background?. Well done Dunlop, whose name I've only just seen on the spare tyre of that gorgeous touring car in the foreground, and well done Henry Seabright for choosing this difficult bird's eye viewpoint.
5 comments:
That's just brilliant - the viewpoint, the light, the melting snow, the figures, the cars, the lot. Surely Rudyard Kipling is chasing the small child, so that he can catch it and give it vital information about how the elephant got its trunk.
And to think this is part of a series, and there could be the Haxey Hood Game, Bottle Kicking, Cheese Rolling, and the Obby Oss out there.
The position of the chimney stacks are interesting particularly the building on the right.
i have one of these pictures, in the original frame for sale. email
lee_b35@yahoo.co.uk
i have one of these pictures, in the original frame for sale. email
lee_b35@yahoo.co.uk
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