Lancashire Cotton Goods for India

Keith Henderson 1883 - 1982

Summary

Two male figures, one seated, one standing, examine a length of cotton fabric in a draped interior scene. This poster is the fourth image of a series of five posters titled 'Empire Buying Makes Busy Factories'. The other works in this series are 1935.606 Indian Tea in the UK Warehouse, 1935.578 And We'll All have Tea, 1935.575 India and the British Isles Drawn to Scale and 1935.605 A Lancashire Cotton Mill. It is one of 222 Empire Marketing Board posters gifted to the Industrial Art Collection at Manchester Art Gallery by the Empire Marketing Board (EMB) in 1935. The EMB was established in May 1926 by the Conservative party politician Colonial Secretary Leo Amery. It was a key response to growing concern about the long-term prospects of the British economy. A distinctive feature of the EMB's work was its poster campaigns which were displayed in specially designed frames located outdoors in towns and cities throughout the UK. Five posters were shown in sequence conceived as a single linked concept. Each series was accompanied by a top caption, in this instance 'Empire Buying Makes Busy Factories'. Up to 1931, each display was changed every three weeks. Rather than connect tariff protection in Britain with imperial preference agreements between Britain and the Empire countries, as the British support for free trade was so strong, the British governement chose instead to spend £1 million each year on promoting the sale of British and Empire goods instead. Its poster campaigns were established to promote trade within the British Empire by persuading British customers to 'Buy Empire'. Such sales would support the Empire countries who would in turn purchase British exports of manufactured goods. The EMB posters represented the Empire as a co-operative effort. The committee of the EMB was made up of William Crawford of Crawfords, a major British advertising agency; Frank Pick who closely supervised all aspects of the poster campaigns and Stephen Tallent, Secretary of the EMB. They selected and commissioned leading artists of the period with a track record of good commercial design to ensure the posters achieved the greatest public impact. Artists initially provided the committee with sketches of their proposed designs responding to Pick's design briefs. The original designs were then transferred to zinc plates and printed by specialist lithography printers, primarily by Waterlow and Sons Ltd. The printing proofs were then approved by the committee and finally around 2000 copies of each poster design was produced. The images were constructed and presented with the clear purpose to change the consumer behaviour of the viewer. This poster series was first displayed April-May 1930. The Empire Marketing Board ended in 1932 when the decision was made to replace marketing the Empire with imperial preference agreements at the Imperial Economic Conference in Ottawa.

Display Label

Lancashire Cotton Goods for India Keith Henderson 1883-1982 Printed poster Keith Henderson was one of many artists commissioned to produce promotional posters for The Empire Marketing Board. This was a national organisation that existed from 1926 to 1933. It promoted the products of the British Empire and encouraged trade between countries. This poster promoting Lancashire cotton on the one hand exalts global trade but, today can also be seen within contexts of perpetuating exploitation and domination. Gift of the Empire Marketing Board 1935.583