Musicians

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1. David Horovitz says

   January 21, 2024 at 3:06 pm

   Good afternoon –

   The Three Musicians

   Last week, at an antiques centre in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, not far from our home in England, a small framed colour print caught my eye. It was of three musicians, and I recognised it at once because I had bought an original, larger, oil painting (19” x 12”) of the same subject in Bridgnorth (also in Shropshire) a few years ago. Researching my painting further I came across your website, and was intrigued to see another painting similar to the one I have.

   My painting bears the faint signature in the bottom left-hand corner ‘E. M. Pascall’. The canvas is discoloured from long exposure to cigarette smoke and slightly damaged, with small repairs to the back, which bears an inked stamp ‘A. Cornille, 4 The Pavement, South Norwood’. That was the clue that started my search for the artist.

   I soon discovered that the name Pascall is well recorded in South Norwood in South London. During the late 18th and 19th century there were numerous brick fields in South Norwood making use of the London clay to manufacture ‘London Yellow Stock’ bricks and other products such as tiles and plant pots.

   Advertisements show that a large field at the foot of south Norwood Hill was the site of Pascall’s Brickworks, founded in 1798 by Henry Pascall senior. He had three sons, Thomas, Henry and Joseph who were all involved in the South Norwood brickfield at some point in their lives. Their sons and grandsons were also involved in the business, and I’m guessing that E. M. Pascall was a great-grandson or other relative.

   This brickmaking family also set up other brickfields, including several in Kent and one in Australia. The Pascall confectionary company was created by James Pascall, the great grandson of Henry senior: I remember Pascall’s sweets as a child . Following a fire at their Blackfriars premises and an increase in demand Pascalls purchased part of the Manor Farm Estate in 1888. It took nine years to build the new factory ‘Furzedown Works’.

   In 1959 the firm was purchased by the Beecham Group which in turn sold it to Cadbury-Fry. The Mitcham factory closed in 1970 and the building was pulled down in 1972. By 1973 the site had become the Mitcham Industrial Estate which employed 2000 people.

   When I began researching E. M. Pascall I came across a single reference to him exhibiting a painting in (I seem to remember, but may be mistaken) 1885 or thereabouts – unfortunately I’ve not managed to track down that reference again, and my notes seem to have been misplaced.

   Nevertheless I’m happy to send you photos of the oil painting and print if you can respond to this email – I’m not tech savvy, struggle to use Outlook, and can’t seem to attach the photos to this note.

   The print I saw in Shrewsbury, with a note referring to another copy on Etsy, shows that the picture was evidently sufficiently popular for coloured prints to be produced, and I would be most interested to learn of any further information you may discover about the picture – from their faces I’ve wondered whether it shows blind musicians.

   Sincerely, from a cold winter’s day in England,

   David Horovitz

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   • Janice says

     January 24, 2024 at 5:45 am

     David:
     I would love to see photos of your print and oil painting. Send them to [email protected], which is normal email and will let you attach photos the usual way. Thanks for your interest!
     Janice

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