Francis Barraud

Who was Francis Barraud?

Francis James Barraud was an English painter – the son of artist Henry Barraud.

His most famous work, His Master's Voice, is one of the best-known commercial logos in the world, having inspired the music industry trademark depicting a dog and phonograph, which is used by several corporations, including HMV, RCA, and JVC.

The painting His Master's Voice 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 it 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. It was used in advertising by the Gramophone Company and by its US equivalent Victor and became one of the world's most recognisable trademarks, although it did not appear on British record labels until 1909.