"His Master's Voice," the painting that became the RCA Victor logo, featuring Nipper looking into the horn of a phonograph, originally featured an Edison-Bell wax cylinder phonograph and a black bell (contrary to legend, there is no indication that it originally showed Nipper and the phonograph at a funeral). No wax cylinder record company wanted to buy the painting, so Francis Barraud painted a Gramophone with a brass bell over the Edison phonograph when he sold the painting for £100 to the Gramophone Company. The original "His Master's Voice" hangs at EMI's headquarters. Barraud was commissioned to paint 24 copies of the work for the Gramophone Company. The image and the phrase "His Master's Voice" are both trademarked.
As for Nipper, he started off as a stray mutt from Bristol, England. He was owned by Francis Barraud's brother, and Francis inherited the pooch upon the brother's death. Later, Nipper went back to the brother's widow. Nipper is said to have gotten his name from his habit of nipping at ankles. He died in 1895 at age 11 and is buried at Kingston-upon-Thames, in what is now the parking lot of a bank.
No comments:
Post a Comment