Tobacco plantation in S Rhodesia

Frank Cheyne Papé 1878 - 1972

Summary

Two men carry tobacco leaves hanging from sticks in the foreground whilst two others attend to tobacco plants in the middle ground. The figure on the right bends forward to retrieve white cloths from a crate/box. The figure on the left in a white hat puts a white cloth over the flower of a tobacco plant. The flowers to his right have all been covered. There's also a truck in the middle ground (right) and there are mountains on the hoizon. The whole scene is framed by a decorative border. Under the scene are the words 'Tobacco Plantation in S. Rhodesia'. This poster is from a series of five Empire Marketing Board posters on the theme of 'Smoke Empire Tobacco' (the series title). The only other work in the collection from this poster series is 1935.697 'Tobacco Plantation in Nyasaland'. S. Rhodesia refers to the colonial name Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. Nyasaland was the colonial name of Malawi. 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. The poster campaigns were established to promote trade within the British Empire by persuading British customers to 'Buy Empire'. 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 EMB's Publicity Sub Committee with sketches of their proposed designs responding to Pick's design briefs. These original designs were then transferred to zinc plates and printed by specialist lithography printers. The printing proofs were then approved by the committee and finally around 2000 copies of each poster design was produced.