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MAILEY, Arthur (1886-1967). ‘Our Skipper 1920’. Original pen-and-ink caricature of the Australian captain Warwick Armstrong waiting to bat, signed ‘Arthur Mailey’, 185 x 156mm, light spotting – Warwick Armstrong. Original pen-and-ink caricature of Armstrong in the outfield, untitled, signed ‘Arthur Mailey 1921’, 214 x 164mm. Provenance: Henry Blofeld (signed on back of frames).
TWO UNUSUALLY LARGE, EARLY CARICATURES BY ARTHUR MAILEY OF THE LEGENDARY WARWICK ARMSTRONG (1879-1947). Mailey's talent for caricature emerged at the same time as his selection for Australia. The huge girth, intimidating strength and completely relaxed posture of the 6 foot 3 inch, 17 stone Australian skipper are brilliantly captured in a few expressive strokes of the pen. The earlier drawing shows him at the first match against England, Sydney, 17-22 December 1920, which also marked Mailey’s introduction to Test cricket. In the other he is seen on the 1921 tour of England. This would be Armstrong's last visit, following earlier tours in 1902, 1905 and 1909, whereas it was Mailey's first. In his autobiography, 10 for 66 and all That (1958), the great googly bowler speaks of his delight at being offered £20 a week as a cartoonist for the Bystander and the Graphic. Armstrong’s opinion of his drawing was high: ‘All of the pictures are very good,’ he wrote in Who’s Who in Test Cricket, one of the two books of cartoons published by Mailey at the end of the 1921 series, ‘and I must say that his idea of me combines just enough mercy with veracity to make me feel very pleased with myself.’
TWO UNUSUALLY LARGE, EARLY CARICATURES BY ARTHUR MAILEY OF THE LEGENDARY WARWICK ARMSTRONG (1879-1947). Mailey's talent for caricature emerged at the same time as his selection for Australia. The huge girth, intimidating strength and completely relaxed posture of the 6 foot 3 inch, 17 stone Australian skipper are brilliantly captured in a few expressive strokes of the pen. The earlier drawing shows him at the first match against England, Sydney, 17-22 December 1920, which also marked Mailey’s introduction to Test cricket. In the other he is seen on the 1921 tour of England. This would be Armstrong's last visit, following earlier tours in 1902, 1905 and 1909, whereas it was Mailey's first. In his autobiography, 10 for 66 and all That (1958), the great googly bowler speaks of his delight at being offered £20 a week as a cartoonist for the Bystander and the Graphic. Armstrong’s opinion of his drawing was high: ‘All of the pictures are very good,’ he wrote in Who’s Who in Test Cricket, one of the two books of cartoons published by Mailey at the end of the 1921 series, ‘and I must say that his idea of me combines just enough mercy with veracity to make me feel very pleased with myself.’