V&A Intern Catalogues Randolph Caldecott's Early Bank Sketches from Manchester Years
A project lasting five months at the V&A is dedicated to cataloguing Randolph Caldecott's (1846–1886) works on paper, particularly known for his 'Picture Books' such as 'The House that Jack Built'. Funded by The Randolph Caldecott Collection Trust, the initiative emphasizes an album of sketches created by Caldecott's colleague, William Clough, showcasing early pieces from before Caldecott's illustration journey began. Caldecott, who was the son of a draper, initially worked at Whitchurch Ellesmere Bank before relocating to Manchester in 1867. An 1885 correspondence disclosed his dislike for banking. The album features portraits of his coworkers, identified through directories and the 1871 census, and is now fully catalogued, benefiting genealogists. Caldecott kept in touch with Clough until his passing in 1886.
Key facts
- The V&A is running a 5-month project to catalogue and research works on paper by Randolph Caldecott (1846-1886).
- The project is supported by The Randolph Caldecott Collection Trust.
- An album of sketches compiled by Caldecott's former co-worker William Clough contains the earliest Caldecott works in the V&A collection.
- Caldecott worked at Whitchurch Ellesmere Bank before moving to Manchester in 1867 to work at the Manchester & Salford bank.
- In an 1885 letter to Clough, Caldecott wrote 'there was seldom visible in me any steady sober respect for the work of the bank'.
- Natwest archives staff confirmed a colleague initially thought to be 'J. R. Wilkinson' was actually T. R. Wilkinson.
- Thomas Read Wilkinson started at the bank in 1841 aged 15 and had a 49-year career there.
- Henry Bowers Harrison is the only depicted colleague with another known likeness, a frontispiece portrait in a biography by his daughter after his 1895 death.
Entities
Artists
- Randolph Caldecott
- William Clough
- Thomas Read Wilkinson
- Thomas Butterworth
- Henry Bowers Harrison
- Michael Huchkins
Institutions
- V&A
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- The Randolph Caldecott Collection Trust
- Whitchurch Ellesmere Bank
- Manchester & Salford Bank
- Natwest
- Manchester Quarterly
Locations
- London
- United Kingdom
- Manchester
- Salford
- Whitchurch
- Ellesmere
- Great Britain