2009/28

The age-old custom of beating the balm cake at Abbots Dawdling,

This ink pen and watercolour cartoon was used as an illustration in Punch, 13th April 1960, on page 512. It is entitled 'The age-old custom of beating the balm cake at Abbots Dawdling', and is a wry comment on the invention of bogus rural traditions. It was created by the artist Norman Thelwell (1923-2004), and was chosen as a prize in 1960 by the winner of a punch competition of art criticism. It was also exhibitied in an exhibition, 'The Definitive Thelwell' in a 2009 exhibition at The Chris Beetles Gallery in London.

Framed; inscribed with title below mount.

MERL OLIB database note – 'A wry comment on the invention of bogus rural tradition. Purchased from The Definitive Norman Thelwell - an exhibition at the Chris Beetles Gallery, St James's, London, 12 May to 13 June 2009. Norman Thelwell (1923-2004) is best known for his eponymous pony cartoon books, beginning in 1957 with Angels on Horseback, that have been major sellers worldwide. But for more than 25 years he provided a regular stream of cartoons on rural subjects, often topical, for Punch and the national press as well as other published compilations such as The Effluent Society (1971) and Some Damn Fool's Signed the Rubens Again (1982) - following the ups and downs of country house owners opening their doors to the visiting public. Thelwell was born in Tranmere but his love of the country was ignited by childhood holidays on a farm in North Wales. After War service, during which the military made some use of his natural artistic abilities, Thelwell studied art at Liverpool. This was followed by a short spell in teaching before a new career in freelance cartoon humour began to take off in the early 1950s and enabled him to live the rest of his life in the country, mostly Hampshire. Underlying the light-hearted aspect of his work, was often his own commentary on the changes going on around him. When Punch in 1960 offered one of its cartoons as a prize for a piece of imaginary art criticism, this was the one selected by the winner, Bevis Hillier., MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Museum of English Rural Life) – 'Pen Ink and Watercolour by Norman Thelwell (1923-2004). // Illustrated in Punch, 13 April 1960, p. 512. // Framed, with title below mount. // ... When Punch in 1960 offered one of its cartoons as a prize for a piece of imaginary art criticism, this was the one selected by the winner, Bevis Hillier. // Exhibited in 'The Definitive Thelwell' exhibition at The Chris Beetles Gallery, London, 12 May-13 June 2009. // Purchased as part of the Collecting 20th c Rural Culture project. // References // Catalogue 'The Definitive Thelwell', Chris Beetles 2009. // 'Wrestling with a Pencil' Norman Thelwell, 1986.', Collecting 20thc Rural Culture blog [Thursday, 25 June 2009] – 'Thelwell watercolour, 1960 // The caption on this illustration when it appeared in Punch in 1960 was 'The Age-Old Custom of Beating the Balm Cake at Abbots Dawdling'. It is a classic comment on the peddling of rural myth and bogus tradition. Surprising perhaps that half a century ago this was already a matter for wry amusement. When the original watercolour came up for sale in a recent exhibition in London of Thelwell's work, it seemed only right to make a rural museum its new home. // Norman Thelwell (1923-2004) is best known for his eponymous pony cartoon books, beginning in 1957 with Angels on Horseback, that have been major sellers worldwide. But for more than 25 years he provided a regular stream of cartoons on rural subjects, often topical, for Punch and the national press as well as other published compilations such as The Effluent Society (1971) and Some Damn Fool's Signed the Rubens Again (1982) - following the ups and downs of country house owners opening their doors to the visiting public. // Thelwell was born in Tranmere but his love of the country was ignited by childhood holidays on a farm in North Wales. After War service, during which the military made some use of his natural artistic abilities, Thelwell studied art at Liverpool. This was followed by a short spell in teaching before a new career in freelance cartoon humour began to take off in the early 1950s and enabled him to live the rest of his life in the country, mostly Hampshire. Underlying the light-hearted aspect of his work, was often his own commentary on the changes going on around him. // In his autobiography (Wrestling with a Pencil, 1986) he wrote 'Although my object as a cartoonist was mainly to earn my living by amusing readers, it was also quite possible to express my own feelings on subjects, situations and events about which I felt strongly. Politics I have always found very boring and there was no way in which I could have become a political cartoonist. My interest lies in the minutiae of the human dilemma, the day to day problems of life and the way we are all swept along by events or developments which we feel helpless to influence. I seem to have touched at one time or another on almost every subject under the sun from combine harvesters to computers, rockets to ramblers, paraffin to pigs. But the predominant thread which has always run through my work is my love of and fascination with the countryside: the flesh and bones of these islands'.', Our Country Lives blog [Wednesday, 19 June 2013] – 'A piece of artwork (MERL 2009/28) purchased through MERL’s recent collecting project, offers a slightly different take on the link between cake and tradition (MERL 2009/28). This picture by well-known cartoonist Norman Thelwell (1923-2004) offers a wry comment on the invention of tradition. At the centre of the image some rustic-looking yokels appear to be hitting a cake with rough-hewn sticks. This is a reference to cake-based customary practices and to the tradition of beating the bounds, here combined in a characteristically comical, mystifying, and Thelwellian take on English culture. // This image harbours a subtle air of poking fun at folk revivalists and at people who enjoy pastimes that form part of this movement, such as Morris dancers and mummers. Just for the record, MERL remains extremely pleased to be able to host Morris dancers at its Village fete every year, and here at the Museum we warmly encourage links between cake and tradition, though perhaps in a less violent-looking way than Thelwell’s portrayal!'

1960 - 1960

Cartoon, Watercolour

Paper, Paint, watercolour