Artwork

Comic designs for dance programmes, including mock Egyptian hieroglyphs

Comic designs for dance programmes, including mock Egyptian hieroglyphs is a watercolor work on paper by the Impressionist artist H. E. Howard. It dates from 1891 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Created in 1891 by H.

About this work

Overview

Created in 1891 by H. E. Howard, this water‑colour sketch was produced while the artist sailed to Egypt aboard the RMS Orotava. It forms part of a quartet of drawings made during that voyage, each intended as a humorous visual aid for dance programmes. The page is densely populated with small, lively figures and handwritten notes, reflecting a quick, exploratory approach to design.

Subject & Meaning

The drawings combine cartoonish dancers, climbers, and marching figures with stylised Egyptian‑inspired frames, employing faux hieroglyphic symbols to parody ancient motifs. By turning dance steps into visual jokes, Howard merges movement with satire, suggesting a playful commentary on the exoticism popular in late‑Victorian entertainment.

Technique & Style

Executed in watercolour, the work features a soft palette of watery blues, muted browns and pale greens. Loose washes define the figures, while fine ink‑like lines render details and the mock hieroglyphs. The informal, sketch‑book quality emphasizes spontaneity over finish, allowing the humor of the compositions to emerge readily.

History & Provenance

The sketch is one of four produced on the Orotava’s Egypt passage and remained within Howard’s personal sketchbooks. It later entered the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, where it is catalogued among the artist’s preparatory materials for stage and dance design.

Artist & collection

Artist

H. E. Howard

British artist H.E. Howard filled pocket sketchbooks with quick watercolours of Suez docks and stagecraft in the 1890s. Look at “Labourers carrying coal up a gangway to a ship at Port Said”, a gritty slice of Port Said…