Museum 'delighted' to get iconic Nipper painting

The iconic painting His Master's Voice is now on permanent display at the Huguenot Museum in Rochester

Museum staff are "absolutely delighted" to have acquired the iconic painting His Master's Voice following a successful crowdfunding campaign.

The artwork was painted by Francis Barraud in 1898 and features the "HMV dog", who was named Nipper.

Lara Dix, 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".

"Displaying Nipper here connects that Kentish heritage to one of the world's best-loved cultural icons," she said.

Ms Dix explained Barraud was of Huguenot descent, relating to the French Protestants who fled religious persecution and settled in England from the 16th Century.

The Barraud family settled in London, where they became artists and craftsmen.

Ms Dix said the Huguenots were one of the earliest refugee communities to settle in Kent.

Francis Barraud, painter of His Master's Voice, photographed in 1904

"The painting is a wonderful example of how Huguenot talent and heritage continued to shape British art and culture for centuries," she added.

Earlier this year, the museum launched a crowdfunder to purchase the painting, which was owned by Antony and Jules Michael.

According to the museum, the pooch was named Nipper because he "tended to nip people's legs".

Originally, Nipper was depicted with a phonograph but Barraud's friend suggested using a gramophone instead.

The artist pitched the idea to the Gramophone Company in Maiden Lane, London, which commissioned his painting, paying him £100 for the artwork and copyright.

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.

HMV shop in Oxford Street, London, in 2025

Nipper became a worldwide icon rapidly.

In 1921, the Gramophone Company opened its first HMV shop at 363 Oxford Street.

The Gramophone Company merged with the Columbia Graphophone Company to form EMI Records in 1931.

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.