Pub painting 'Always the favourite! Resch's 'DA' Dinner Ale'
Object No. 2004/27/1
The advertising paintings commissioned by Tooth & Co from the 1920s to the 1960s are a unique combination of medium, content and use. Their status as singly commissioned and produced works is unusual in commercial art, while their most appealing feature is the absence of the advertised product from all but a few pub paintings. Instead of drinking scenes, pub paintings featured depictions of popular sports, pastimes and locales, chosen to reflect the clientele of particular hotels. As thoroughbred racing was the major spectator sport in New South Wales throughout this period, racing was a common subject. Occasionally particular horses or races were depicted, although imprecise provenance makes it unclear if this was so in this case. The painting is also a fine document of the historical association in New South Wales between racing, betting and hotels. Racing followers and bookmakers were a prominent and controversial part of hotel clienteles for most of the twentieth century. Charles Pickett, Curator.
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Summary
Object Statement
Pub painting, advertising, framed, 'Always the favourite! Resch's 'DA' Dinner Ale', oil paint and gold leaf on glass and steel framed, RB Coleman Signs, Sydney, Australia, 1957
Physical Description
Pub painting, advertising, framed, 'Always the favourite! Resch's 'DA' Dinner Ale', oil paint and gold leaf on glass and steel framed, RB Coleman Signs, Sydney, Australia, 1957. Advertising painting in oil paint and gold leaf on the reverse of plate glass. The painting is mounted in a steel frame. The painting is in landscape format, depicting three racing thoroughbreds approaching the winning post; the horses are being energetically ridden by their jockeys. A border in green paint and gold leaf surrounds the image. At top is text 'Resch's 'DA' Dinner Ale' in red paint and gold leaf. At right is text 'Always the Favourite!' in green paint.
DIMENSIONS
Height
760 mm
Width
1400 mm
PRODUCTION
Notes
The painting was produced by RB Coleman Signs, of Canterbury, Sydney. Alone among the five companies which produced advertising paintings for Tooth & Co, Coleman Signs did not paint the company name in the lower border, leaving it as in this example. The style of the sign writing also matches that of other paintings by Coleman's while the artistic style of the painting (notably the bold pastels of the jockey's silks) is more straightforward than those of the earlier generation of pub painting artists. This information was confirmed by the Tooth & Co company papers held by the Noel Butlin Archive, Canberra. One of the existing glass paintings at the Royal Hotel, Ryde, was 'renovated' by Coleman Signs at a price of £20/14/4. The painting is probably the work of Graeme Inson or Murray George, artists frequently used by Coleman Signs during the 1950s and 1960s.
HISTORY
Notes
The painting was installed at the Royal Hotel, Blaxland Road, Ryde, in March 1957. The vendor worked in western Sydney as a building painter during the 1960s and 1970s. The painting was given to him as payment in kind by the publican of the Royal Hotel, Ryde about 1970, at the time that Tooth & Co was removing pub paintings from hotels.
SOURCE
Credit Line
Purchased 2004
Acquisition Date
23 February 2004
Copyright for the above image is held by the Powerhouse and may be subject to third-party copyright restrictions. Please submit an Image Licensing Enquiry for information regarding reproduction, copyright and fees. Text is released under Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivative licence.
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