George Loraine Stampa

{{short description|British cartoonist}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}

{{Infobox person

|name = George Loraine Stampa

|honorific_suffix =

|image = George_Loraine_Stampa.png

|image_size =

|caption =

|birth_name = Giorgio Stampa

|birth_date = {{Birth date|1875|11|29|df=yes}}

|birth_place = Istanbul, Ottoman Empire

|death_date = {{Death date and age|1951|05|26|1875|11|29|df=yes}}

|death_place = London, England

|other_names =

|education = Bedford Modern School

|known_for = British artist
Contributor to Punch

|occupation =

|nationality =

}}

George Loraine Stampa (29 November 1875 – 26 May 1951), also known as G. L. Stampa, was a British artist.{{Cite news |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS102059196/TTDA |title=Mr. G. L. Stampa |newspaper=The Times |publication-place=London |issue=52012 |page=6 |date=28 May 1951 |access-date=2024-01-24 |via=The Times Digital Archive}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian-mr-george-l-stampa/139460269/ |title=Mr George L. Stampa |newspaper=The Guardian |publication-place=London |page=8 |date=May 28, 1951 |access-date=2024-01-24 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite web|url-access=subscription|url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-243259|title=Stampa, George Loraine, (29 Nov. 1875–26 May 1951), artist|website=Who's Who & Who Was Who|year=2007|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U243259|isbn=978-0-19-954089-1}} He contributed to Punch for over 50 years and was the illustrator for books written by A. P. Herbert, E. V. Lucas and Anthony Armstrong. He contributed to most of the illustrated weeklies, including The Bystander, The Humorist, The Sketch and The Tatler. Stampa exhibited at the Royal Institute of Painters and the Royal Academy, and was a participant in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/920549 |title=George Loraine Stampa |work=Olympedia|accessdate=26 July 2020}}

Early life

George Loraine Stampa was born Giorgio Stampa in Istanbul on 29 November 1875, the son of Giorgio Domenico Stampa and Ann (née Heelis) who was the daughter of the Rector of Long Marton in England.{{harvnb|Gruss|1991|p=10}}Who's Who In Art, Volume XIV, Bernard Dolman, The Art Trade Press, Ltd., 1962{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pall-mall-gazette-marriages/139460925/ |title=Marriages |newspaper=The Pall Mall Gazette |page=5 |date=23 February 1872 |access-date=2024-01-24 |via=Newspapers.com}} Stampa's father, Giorgio Domenico Stampa, was also born in Istanbul but educated in Westmorland, England, under the Rev. William Shepherd at Long Marton,{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hull-daily-mail/98855631/ |title=Obituary of Mr George Dominic Stampa Daily Mail |newspaper=The Daily Mail |publication-place=Hull, England |page=4 |date=17 July 1922 |access-date=2024-01-24 |via=Newspapers.com}} later joining the architectural practice of Edward Walters in Manchester where he worked on the design of the Manchester Free Trade Hall and other projects in that City.

Stampa's father was later architect to Sultan Abdul Hamid in the Ottoman Empire where he worked on the design of The British Embassy at Therapia, The Sultan's Palace in Istanbul, the palace of the Kedhive of Egypt and a number of Mosques.

Stampa's father had to leave the Ottoman Empire in 1878 following a political uprising and the young Stampa then lived in England with his mother's family at Battlebarrow House in Appleby, Westmorland.{{Cite web|url=https://www.chrisbeetles.com/artists/stampa-george-loraine-1875-1951.html|title=Chris Beetles Gallery|website=www.chrisbeetles.com}} In Westmorland, he enjoyed fishing with his maternal cousin, Willy Heelis, and the landscape of Westmorland had a profound effect on him and his future career as an artist.{{harvnb|Gruss|1991|p=12}} Stampa's father became a British citizen in 1889, as did his children.{{cite web|url=http://www.chrisbeetles.com/artists/stampa-george-loraine-1875-1951.html#|title=George Loraine Stampa - original artwork for sale - Chris Beetles|work=chrisbeetles.com|accessdate=19 January 2015}}

George Loraine Stampa was educated at Appleby Grammar School (where the father of George Washington was educated), Bedford Modern School,{{cite book|title=Bedford Modern School of the black & red|page=259|isbn=9780950760803|year=1981|oclc = 16558393|last1=Underwood|first1=Andrew|publisher=Bedford Modern School }}{{cite book|title=The Harpur Trust, 1552-1973.|page=175|isbn=0950291706|oclc = 903515|last1=Godber|first1=Joyce|year=1973|publisher=Harpur Trust }}H.E. Vipan, A Register of the Old Boys of the Bedford Modern School, Bedford, 1901, p. 117 {{OCLC|557698898}} Heatherly's Art School (1892–93), and, as a contemporary of Heath Robinson and Lewis Baumer, the Royal Academy Schools (1893–95). Stampa spoke Italian, French, Turkish and English.

Stampa family history

File:Gaspara stampa1738.jpg]]

Stampa's family had an illustrious history.{{harvnb|Gruss|1991|p=9}} In the 8th century, his ancestor, Carlo Lanfranco D'Estampes, was seigneur of Dreux and Étampes in France. Carlo D'Estampes was made Governor of Milan by Charlemagne on the order that D'Estampes fight for control of Lombardy on behalf of the Holy Roman Empire. Carlo Lanfranco D'Estampes later established his family in Milan, Italianized his name to Stampa, and many of his descendants became successful in the Byzantine Empire.

The Aegean Island of Stampalia, renamed Astypalaia after World War II, was colonised by the family in the 14th century. At one point, the Stampa family also owned the island of Elba where Napoleon was first exiled in 1814.{{Cite book|title=Annuario pontificio|year=1819|pages=109}}

One of Stampa's ancestors, Gaspara Stampa (1520-1554), was an esteemed poet during the Italian Renaissance.

Stampa's work

Stampa first published in Punch in March 1894, at the request of F. C. Burnand, when the nineteen year old Stampa was still studying at Heatherley's Art School. Stampa's predilection for drawing London street urchins and mongrel dogs was in the same style as Charles Keene and Phil May. He was a major contributor to Punch for 50 years, providing material to four editors including Sir Francis Burnand, Sir Owen Seaman, Mr. E. V. Knox and Mr Kenneth Bird. At the time of his last contribution in 1949, Stampa had contributed at least 2,500 drawings to Punch.{{harvnb|Gruss|1991|p=15}}

In addition to Punch, Stampa was an illustrator for most of the illustrated weeklies, including The Bystander, The Humorist, The Sketch and The Tatler. He was an illustrator for all of Rudyard Kipling's dog stories. Stampa was also a designer of posters for London Transport,{{cite web|url=http://www.ltmcollection.org/posters/artist/artist.html?IXartist=George+Loraine+Stampa|title=Artist: George Loraine Stampa - Poster and poster artwork collection, London Transport Museum|publisher=ltmcollection.org|accessdate=2014-07-17|archive-date=26 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726131800/http://www.ltmcollection.org/posters/artist/artist.html?IXartist=George+Loraine+Stampa|url-status=dead}} and illustrator to the Punch theatre column, "At the Play", signing some of his work as Harris Brooks.{{harvnb|Gruss|1991|p=14}} Ronald Searle took responsibility for the theatre column in 1949.

Stampa would regularly donate his drawings to charities including the Great Ormond Street Hospital, Middlesex Hospital, the Newspaper Press charities and the Rudyard Kipling Memorial Fund. He also contributed work after the explosion of the French battleship Liberté in Toulon. Stampa was commissioned to paint a cartoon, the size of a postage stamp, for Queen Mary's famous dolls' house. In 1916 he designed a card for the 19th (Western) Division of the British Expeditionary Force during World War I. His illustrations were included in books written by A. P. Herbert, E. V. Lucas and Anthony Armstrong.

Stampa's work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics. He exhibited at the Royal Institute of Painters and the Royal Academy. Stampa's abiding interest in drawing animals led him to be a Life Member of London Zoo.

Personal life

Stampa's elder brother, Lelio Stampa (1873-1943), was a lecturer in Modern History at the University of Oxford. T. E. Lawrence was tutored by Lelio Stampa, and Lawrence would later give the Stampa family a suit of chainmail obtained during Lawrence's travels in Arabia. The youngest of Stampa's brothers, Arturo, died of pneumonia in 1892.

Stampa was a first cousin of William Heelis, husband of Beatrix Potter.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZaJjWFqPWloC&dq=william+heelis+george+stampa&pg=PA297|title=From Hellgill to Bridge End: Aspects of Economic and Social Change in the Upper Eden Valley 1840-95|first=Margaret E.|last=Shepherd|date=November 23, 2003|publisher=Univ of Hertfordshire Press|isbn=9781902806327|via=Google Books}} Stampa's brother, Lelio, was a witness at the wedding.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1296659637|title=Beatrix Potter|first=Andrew|last=Norman|date=April 2, 2022|oclc=1296659637|via=Open WorldCat}}

Stampa was a member of the Savage Club, having been elected by Leonard Raven-Hill, and would later serve on the board of trustees.{{harvnb|Gruss|1991|p=19}} He designed a menu for a dinner at the Savage Club on 21 January 1928 that was chaired by A. P. Herbert. Stampa was also a young attendee at the Langham Sketch Club in All Souls Place near Regent Street, London, and would later be its chairman in 1914. As a fan of cricket he would regularly attend matches at Lord's.

In 1906 Stampa married Ethel Crowther (d. 1946), eldest daughter of the late Clifford Crowther of Claygate. In 1908 they had one son, Arthur L Stampa, who was the principal beneficiary of his father's will.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/liverpool-echo-punch-artists-22250/139460617/ |title='Punch' Artist's £22,250 Estate |newspaper=Liverpool Echo |page=29 |date=8 September 1951 |access-date=2024-01-24 |via=Newspapers.com}} Stampa died in London on 26 May 1951. John O'London's Weekly described him as:

The most cheerful, contented and amiable inhabitants of what is called Bohemian London. He never envies anyone and sincerely appreciates the work of his rivals. The consequence is that no man has a larger number of friends.

Perhaps his best epitaph was written by his granddaughter, Flavia Stampa Gruss, in her book, The Last Bohemian:{{harvnb|Gruss|1991|p=22}}

He was a man who cared deeply for England and things English. Although given to nostalgia, G. L. S. was at home in the world of his life and times which, however Bohemian (of the gentler sort), remained one of "an English sun under an English Heaven". Yet we should never forget that G. L. S. gained from his Italian forebears a special warmth and lightness of touch - the ragamuffins of Seven Dials were the blood brothers of those of Venice and Milan. He was very much a man of his times, an honoured member of a family of ancient descent.

Gallery

File:George Loraine Stampa00.jpg|The Scout

File:George Loraine Stampa01a.jpg|Lady playing golf

File:Cricket.png|Cricket

File:Ragamuffin street urchin boy.png|Ragamuffin street urchin boy

File:Harassed Conductor 1923.png|Harassed Conductor

File:William_Breakspeare.png|William Breakspeare

Selected works

  • In praise of dogs; an anthology for all dog lovers, by G. L. Stampa. Published by Frederick Muller, London, 1955. {{OCLC|39915033}}{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/39915033|title=In praise of dogs; an anthology for all dog lovers.|first=G. L|last=Stampa|date=March 26, 1955|publisher=Frederick Muller|oclc = 39915033|via=Open WorldCat}}
  • Humours of the Street, by G. L. Stampa. Published by Methuen, London, 1921. {{OCLC|16738676}}{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/16738676|title=Humours of the street|first=G. L|last=Stampa|date=March 26, 1921|publisher=Methuen|oclc=16738676|via=Open WorldCat}}
  • Ragamuffins, by G. L. Stampa. Published by Duckworh, London, 1916. {{OCLC|773672791}}{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/773672791|title=Ragamuffins|first=G. L|last=Stampa|date=March 26, 1916|publisher=Duckworth|oclc=773672791|via=Open WorldCat}}
  • Loud laughter: humorous drawings illustrating Easy French exercises, by G. L. Stampa with verses by C. Errington Pegler. Published by Cassell & Co. in London and New York, 1907. {{OCLC|41037798}}{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/41037798|title="Loud laughter": humorous drawings illustrating "Easy French exercises"|first1=G. L|last1=Stampa|first2=C. Errington|last2=Pegler|date=March 28, 1907|publisher=Cassell and Co.|oclc=41037798|via=Open WorldCat}}

Selected book illustrations

  • Kipling, Rudyard. Collected Dog Stories. Published by World Books, London, 1939. {{OCLC|1274640565}}{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1274640565|title=Collected dog stories|date=March 31, 1939|publisher=World Books|oclc=1274640565|via=Open WorldCat}}
  • Murray, A. Maitland. Gerogie M' culloch. Published by Bodley Head and John Lane, London, 1933. {{OCLC|563054904}}{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/563054904|title=Georgie M'Culloch ... [Short stories.] With 10 illustrations by G.L. Stampa.|first=A. Maitland|last=Murray|date=March 29, 1933|publisher=London|oclc=563054904|via=Open WorldCat}}
  • Armstrong, Anthony. The Easy Warriors. Published by Methuen, London, 1932. {{OCLC|2214990}}{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2214990|title=The easy warriors|first=Anthony|last=Armstrong|date=March 29, 1932|publisher=Methuen|oclc=2214990|via=Open WorldCat}}
  • Herbert, Alan Patrick. Ballads for Broadbows. Published by Ernest Benn, London, 1930. {{OCLC|1106679024}}{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1106679024|title=Ballads for Broadbrows|first=Alan Patrick|last=Herbert|date=March 30, 1930|publisher=Benn|oclc=1106679024|via=Open WorldCat}}
  • Kipling, Rudyard. The Servant a Dog, told by Boots. Published by Macmillan & Co., London, 1930. {{OCLC|490614450}}{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/490614450|title=Thy servant a dog told by Boots|first1=Rudyard|last1=Kipling|first2=G. L. (George Loraine)|last2=Stampa|first3=Sylvia|last3=Beach|date=March 28, 1930|publisher=Macmillan and Co.|oclc=490614450|via=Open WorldCat}}
  • Walker, Joe. That Dog Of Mine. Published by Ward Lock, London and Melbourne, 1930. {{OCLC|876824195}}{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/876824195|title=That dog of mine. [Verse|first=Joe|last=Walker|date=March 30, 1930|oclc=876824195|via=Open WorldCat}}
  • Kipling, Rudyard. Supplications of the Black Aberdeen. Published by Doubleday, London and New York, 1929. {{OCLC|1061914124}}{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1061914124|title=Supplication of the Black Aberdeen ... Drawings by G.L. Stampa.|first=Rudyard|last=Kipling|date=March 30, 1929|oclc=1061914124|via=Open WorldCat}}
  • Walker, Joe. My Dog and Yours. Published in London, 1929. {{OCLC|13415770}}{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/13415770|title=My dog and yours.|first=Joe|last=Walker|date=March 28, 1930|publisher=Ward|oclc=13415770|via=Open WorldCat}}
  • Hastings, Basil Macdonald. Memoirs of a Child. Published by A.M. Philpot, London, 1926. {{OCLC|11194561}}{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/11194561|title=Memoirs of a child|first1=Basil Macdonald|last1=Hastings|first2=G. L|last2=Stampa|date=March 29, 1926|publisher=A.M. Philpot|oclc=11194561|via=Open WorldCat}}
  • Cummins, Stevenson Lyle. Plays for Children. Published by Methuen, London, 1922. {{OCLC|558138789}}{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/558138789|title=Plays for Children ... With ... illustrations by G.L. Stampa.|first1=Stevenson Lyle|last1=Cummins|first2=George Loraine|last2=Stampa|date=March 29, 1922|publisher=Methuen & Co.|oclc=558138789|via=Open WorldCat}}
  • Lucas, Edward Verrall. Urbanites; essays new and old. Published by Methuen, London, 1921. {{OCLC|870335306}}{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/870335306|title=Urbanities: essays new and old|first1=E. V|last1=Lucas|first2=G. L|last2=Stampa|date=March 30, 2013|oclc=870335306|via=Open WorldCat}}
  • Lucas, Edward Verrall. Specially selected: a choice of essays, with a pictorial commentary. Published by Methuen, London, 1921. {{OCLC|670190024}}{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/speciallyselecte00lucauoft|title=Specially selected, a choice of essays by E.V. Lucas: with a pictorial commentary by G.L. Stampa.|first=E. V|last=Lucas|date=March 30, 1921|publisher=Methuen|oclc=670190024|via=Open WorldCat}}
  • Atkey, Bertram. Easy Money, the genuine book of Henry Mitch, his genuine search for other folk's wealth, and his urgent fear of the feminine. Published by Grant Richards, London, 1908. {{OCLC|1118995883}}{{harvnb|Gruss|1991|at=Bibliography, p. 72}}{{Cite web|url=http://find.galegroup.com/openurl/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&url_ctx_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&res_id=info:sid/gale:AMFN&ctx_enc=info:ofi:enc:UTF-8&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:unknown&rft.artnum=HGFBJE987411915&req_dat=info:sid/gale:ugnid:edmo74244|title=Easy money: the genuine book of Henry Mitch, his diligent search for other folk's wealth, and his urgent fear of the feminine|first1=Bertram|last1=Atkey|first2=G. L|last2=Stampa|date=March 28, 1908|oclc=1118995883|via=Open WorldCat}}

Notes

{{Reflist}}

References

  • {{cite book| title=The last bohemian: G.L. Stampa of Punch |last=Gruss |first=Flavia Stampa |year=1991|publisher=Bellew | url=https://archive.org/details/lastbohemianglst0000grus |isbn=9780947792787}}