Nipper - the dog who made his mark on the music industry

Nipper was probably a mixed-breed dog, and originally lived with his owner, scenery designer Mark Henry Barraud, in the Prince's Theatre in Bristol. Barraud died in 1887, and his brothers Philip and Francis took care of the dog. He earned his name because he would 'nip' at the back of visitors' legs.

In 1898, three years after the dog's death, Francis Barraud painted a picture of Nipper listening to a wind-up Edison Bell cylinder phonograph and called the painting 'His Master's Voice'. He took it to William Barry Owen, founder and manager of The Gramophone Company, which had been founded on behalf of Emil Berliner, pioneer of early musical recordings. Barry Owen said he would buy the painting if the machine depicted was replaced with a Berliner disc gramophone.

Barraud did so, and the slogan 'His Master's Voice', along with the painting, was sold to the company, one of the early recording companies and parent organisation for the His Master's Voice label, and the European affiliate of the American Victor Talking Machine Company. The original oil painting hung in the EMI boardroom in Hayes, Middlesex, for many years. The image became the trademark of the Victor and HMV record labels, HMV music stores and the Radio Corporation of America.

Barraud later said 'it occurred to me that to have my dog listening to the phonograph, with an intelligent and rather puzzled expression, and call it 'His Master's Voice' would make an excellent subject. I often noticed how puzzled he was to make out where the voice came from. It certainly was the happiest thought I ever had.'

A small statue of Nipper can be seen perched above a doorway in the Merchant Venturers Building on the corner of Park Row and Woodland Road in Bristol. This building stands near the site of the old Prince's Theatre.

Further reading

• The Story of Nipper - Vintage News
• The History of Nipper and His Master's Voice - Erik Østergaard
• RCA dogs