Francis Barraud
Francis James Barraud was an English painter – the son of portrait photographer Henry Barraud.Famous works
His most famous work, His Master's Voice, is one of the best-known commercial symbols in the world, having inspired a music industry trademark, depicting a Jack Russel Terrier dog and phonograph, which is used by the corporations; HMV, RCA Victor, and JVC.
The painting His Master's Voice in its original form was completed during 1899 and originally showed the dog listening to a cylinder phonograph. This was a rare model, electrically driven and housed in a distinctive round-cornered case, known as the Edison-Bell Commercial Phonograph and produced by Edison's factory exclusively for the British market,
Barraud probably derived the idea of buying such a machine from Hubert von Herkomer who kept a similar machine in his studio. He later replaced the phonograph with a disc machine on the suggestion of William Barry Owen of The Gramophone Company, which then bought the picture by agreement. It was used for advertising by the Gramophone Company and by its US affiliate the Victor Talking Machine Company and soon became one of the world's most recognizable trademarks.
