The  controversy over Boris Johnson’s diplomatic gaffe at the Saudis expense rumbles on with people saying that he is not the right person to be Foreign Secretary. Others, however, argue that he is just saying what everyone else is thinking. But No. 10 Downing Street continue to distance themselves from his utterances saying he is not speaking for the Government. Should be an interesting weekend as Bojo is off to the Middle East.

Saturday 10th  December. The Independent – Dave Brown/John Edwin Noble

I think it is obvious what Mr. Brown’s interpretation of the situation is. Bojo being shat on from the camel that represents Theresa May whilst she carries King Salman of Saudi Arabia off – he  eagerly clutching a British made missile.

John Edwin Noble was not an artist I had previously been familiar with. After studying to be an artist he became an instructor at Calderon’s School of Animal Painting and a lecturer on animal drawing and anatomy at the Central and Camberwell Schools of Arts and Crafts. He served as a sergeant in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps during World War I, where he was employed as an official war artist, depicting horses and mules in charcoal and watercolour. He seems to have worked exclusively as an animal artist and his characteristically emphatic outline gives his work a strongly decorative quality and the artwork that the above cartoon is based on is a book illusratration.

RIDING A CAMEL.

John Edwin Noble, 1919 – Illustration from ‘Helpers Without Hands’ by Gladys Davidson

We shall see how this pans out!

Chris Walker.