Pie & Mash

Pie & Mash

A detail from my latest screen print, The Cockney Alphabet. As well as the 26 letters, the print contains an additional 4 vignettes to compliment them depicting scenes typical of East End life - a Pearly King, a Pearly Queen, a Costermonger (with obligatory mis-spelt labels!) and this, a traditional serving of Pie & Mash, accompanied by lurid green parsley liquor, jellied eels, vinegar, white pepper and a cup o' scolding Rosie Lee (tea). The scene is F. Cooke on Broadway Market.

I had my first jellied eel a month or so ago. And once you get past the skin, the spikey bone, the cold jelly and the odd texture, it wasn't half bad...

https://www.etsy.com/listing/100378924/the-cockney-alphabet-screenprint

The Cockney Alphabet

The Cockney Alphabet

Here it is, in all its glory. A for 'Orses, B for Mutton, C for Miles, etc.


Brand new screen print, 50 cm by 70 cm (B2), Limited Edition of 50, signed and numbered by the Artist.

Available to buy at £145 plus P&P 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/100378924/the-cockney-alphabet-screenprint

http://spitalfieldslife.com/2012/05/21/the-cockney-alphabet/ 

Photograph © The Gentle Author

The Cockney Alphabet - Y for Mistress (Wife or Mistress)
 
A little taster of my new limited edition screen print, The Cockney Alphabet.
A for 'Orses, B for Mutton, &c., &c.. (you get the picture)

Limited Edition screen print, 50 cm by 70 cm (B2), signed and numbered by the artist.

This unlikely-looking Lothario is going to let the two ladies in his life fight it out amongst themselves...

The Cockney Alphabet - W for A Quid (Trouble you for a Quid)
 
A little taster of my new limited edition screen print, The Cockney Alphabet.
A for 'Orses, B for Mutton, &c., &c.. (you get the picture)

Limited Edition screen print, 50 cm by 70 cm (B2), signed and numbered by the artist.

This poor chap, a former merchant seaman injured at work, now begs for coins outside the famous Beigel Bake at the top of Brick Lane with his dog Rex for company and warmth. The man walking by, a recent newcomer to the area who works in the City, believes that Spitalfields just can't get gentrified soon enough!!

The Cockney Alphabet - J for Oranges (Jaffa Oranges)

The Cockney Alphabet - J for Oranges (Jaffa Oranges)
 
A little taster of my new limited edition screen print, The Cockney Alphabet.
A for 'Orses, B for Mutton, &c., &c.. (you get the picture)

Limited Edition screen print, 50 cm by 70 cm (B2), signed and numbered by the artist.

This fellow is a porter at the Old Spitalfields fruit & veg market, back in the day. I imagine he's called Chas, or Sid, or maybe even Jaffa Jim. Mind you, 'jaffa' is also an expression for someone infertile (having no pips) and this chap looks virile and cheeky as only a market-porter or costermonger can!

The date on the wall behind him is the date on the present day market hall (sadly no longer used for fruit and veg) on Commercial Street

The Cockney Alphabet - D for Dumb (Deaf or Dumb)

The Cockney Alphabet - D for Dumb (Deaf or Dumb)
 
A little taster of my new limited edition screen print, The Cockney Alphabet.
A for 'Orses, B for Mutton, &c., &c.. (you get the picture)

Limited Edition screen print, 50 cm by 70 cm (B2), signed and numbered by the artist.

This fellow's appeared in my work a few times, an irascible old Darby, cackling and growling in his Bath-chair under the arches of the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. Hearing aids have come on, and offer great comfort for sure, but there's something so stylish about the old school hearing trumpet that the modern devices lack...

The Cockney Alphabet - A for 'Orses (Hay for Horses)

The Cockney Alphabet - A for 'Orses (Hay for Horses)
 
A little taster of my new limited edition screen print, The Cockney Alphabet.
A for 'Orses, B for Mutton, &c., &c.. (you get the picture)

Limited Edition screen print, 50 cm by 70 cm (B2), signed and numbered by the artist.

This fellow is based upon a real character I've seen around Brick Lanes a few times, a real gypsy horse-whisperer, his face brown as a berry and lined like a school-book, with huge side-boards. He wears his trowsers high, with turn-ups the size of Spain..