George Grossmith

Inscriptionback to top

Signed in ink lower left: ‘Hy.F.’;
inscr. in pencil top left: ‘41 / George Grossmith’;
inscr. in pencil at right: ‘9717’;
inscr. in blue crayon at right: ‘6 inches high’.
On reverse, caricature sketch in pencil, pen and ink of an unidentified man, bust, three-quarters to left.

This portraitback to top

Harry Furniss first encountered George Grossmith (‘that volatile comedian’) [1] in the 1870s; in his memoirs My Bohemian Days (1919) he recalled him as an ‘inveterate practical joker’ with ‘many good stories to tell’, and described his ‘high-explosive laugh’ – these traits can be read in his caricatures of the entertainer. [2] NPG 3456 is related to another Furniss caricature, in the collection of the Museum of London (see ‘All known portraits, In private character, Paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints, c.1880–85’). It is inscribed ‘Mr George Grossmith / Times reporter / Bow St’, and Furniss and Grossmith, in the 1870s respectively news illustrator and news reporter, probably rubbed shoulders at Bow Street police court. The Museum of London caricature appears to be an 1880s image, and in fact Grossmith resumed work as a part-time reporter for The Times between 1880 and 1885. [3]

On the back of NPG 3456 is a pen and ink caricature, unfinished and scribbled out in pencil, of an unidentified man, seated three-quarters to left.

For another Furniss caricature of George Grossmith see NPG 3457; and for one of his brother (Walter) Weedon (‘Wee-Gee’) Grossmith see NPG 3458.

See NPG collection 3337–3535, 3554–3620.

Carol Blackett-Ord

Footnotesback to top

1) Furniss 1925, p.229.
2) Furniss [1919], p.87.
3) Child 1927; and Joseph 1982, p.85.

Physical descriptionback to top

Whole-length, profile to right, knees bent, holding top hat behind him, with left hand grasping chin, wearing pince-nez.

Conservationback to top

Conserved, 1980.

Provenanceback to top

The artist; his sons, from whom purchased (through Theodore Cluse), March 1947.

Exhibitionsback to top

Mr Pooter’s London, Geffrye Museum, London, 1988 (no further details).

Reproductionsback to top

Furniss [1919], p.88.

Mr Pooter’s London, exh. booklet, Geffrye Museum, London, 1988.

View all known portraits for Harry Furniss

View all known portraits for George Grossmith