Emett's fantastical inventions delight all who encounter them...
We are delighted to have a work by the unimitable Frederick Rowland Emett OBE (1906 - 1990) going into our September Fine Sale. The lot is a 3D scale model of Wisteria Halt, made from mixed media and paper cut-outs. It was created for a 1950s production at the Old Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith. (left)
Emett was an English cartoonist and creator of kinetic sculpture. Invention and artistry ran through his veins, as he was the son of an amateur inventor and the grandson of Queen Victoria's engraver. In his early life, whilst at school in Birmingham, he excelled in drawing and caricatures of teachers, vehicles and machinery. Emett's earlier life consisted of working as a draughtsman for the Air Ministry while drawing cartoons which were published regularly in the former British Weekly Magazine of Humour and Satire, 'Punch'. His drawings soon took a turn to railway scenes and machinery, where he developed his distinctly unique oddities such as quirky trains, tall chimneys and silly names. His cartoons came to the stage in 1947, when his cartoons were used at the Globe Theatre.
Emett became known for his silliness, especially his use of long, humorous names such as The Featherstone-Kite Openwork Basketweave Mark Two Gentleman’s Flying Machine. One of Emett's achievements were the use of his inventive and imaginative designs for the fantastical machines in the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang including the iconic flying car.
Scroll below for some iconic examples of his designs!
