![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761133927_86_grey-placeholder.png\")
![\"Huguenot](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/64965020-b5a1-11f0-8d0f-29cad3ef1e0e.jpg.webp.webp\")
Huguenot Museum<\/p>\nHuguenot Museum<\/p>\n
The iconic painting His Master’s Voice is now on permanent display at the Huguenot Museum in Rochester<\/p>\n
Museum staff are “absolutely delighted” to have acquired the iconic painting His Master’s Voice following a successful crowdfunding campaign.<\/p>\n
The artwork was painted by Francis Barraud in 1898 and features the “HMV dog”, who was named Nipper.<\/p>\n
Lara Nix, director of the Huguenot Museum in Rochester, said having the painting in the permanent collection was a “real point of pride for Rochester and for Kent”. <\/p>\n
“Displaying Nipper here connects that Kentish heritage to one of the world’s best-loved cultural icons,” she said. <\/p>\n
Ms Nix explained Barraud was of Huguenot descent, relating to the French Protestants who fled religious persecution and settled in England from the 16th Century. <\/p>\n
The Barraud family settled in London, where they became artists and craftsmen. <\/p>\n
Ms Nix said the Huguenots were one of the earliest refugee communities to settle in Kent.<\/p>\n
![\"Getty](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/fea76230-b5a1-11f0-8d0f-29cad3ef1e0e.jpg.webp.webp\")
Getty Images<\/p>\n
Francis Barraud, painter of His Master’s Voice, photographed in 1904<\/p>\n
“The painting is a wonderful example of how Huguenot talent and heritage continued to shape British art and culture for centuries,” she added.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the museum launched a crowdfunder to purchase the painting, which was owned by Antony and Jules Michael. <\/p>\n
According to the museum, the pooch was named Nipper because he “tended to nip people’s legs”.<\/p>\n
Originally, Nipper was depicted with a phonograph but Barraud’s friend suggested using a gramophone instead. <\/p>\n
The artist pitched the idea to the Gramophone Company in Maiden Lane, London, which commissioned his painting, paying him \u00a3100 for the artwork and copyright.<\/p>\n
The artwork became the Gramophone Company’s official trademark in 1909, using Nipper’s image on its gramophones and record labels and the company was dubbed “HMV” colloquially.<\/p>\n
![\"Getty](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/37af0bb0-b646-11f0-b537-0b1fa31d0c29.jpg.webp.webp\")
Getty Images<\/p>\n
HMV shop in Oxford Street, London, in 2025<\/p>\n
Nipper became a worldwide icon rapidly. <\/p>\n
In 1921, the Gramophone Company opened its first HMV shop at 363 Oxford Street.<\/p>\n
The Gramophone Company merged with the Columbia Graphophone Company to form EMI Records in 1931. <\/p>\n
EMI discontinued the Nipper trademark at the end of the 20th Century then sold it to the newly-independent HMV shops in 2003, but Nipper’s fame still echoes to this day. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Huguenot Museum The iconic painting His Master’s Voice is now on permanent display at the Huguenot Museum in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-119291","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}